PHILADELPHIA — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)), published as received.
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Chihean Jones, aka “Cha,” 40, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was convicted this afternoon at trial of two commercial robberies in the city and the murder of a gas station attendant during one of those robberies.
Jones was charged by second superseding indictment in January 2024 with two counts of robbery interfering with interstate commerce (Hobbs Act robbery), murder in the course of using and carrying a firearm, and using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. A federal jury found him guilty on all counts.
As proven at trial, on August 22, 2022, the defendant drove two other men to a cell phone store on the 100 block of East Olney Avenue. While Jones waited in his Chevrolet Suburban, the two others went inside the store, forced their way into a back room, and stole multiple cell phones. The three men then fled the scene in the defendant’s Suburban.
As further proven at trial, on January 17, 2023, Jones, accompanied by his girlfriend and two other men, drove the Suburban to a gas station on the 7100 block of Torresdale Avenue, which the group intended to rob. They planned to wait for the gas station attendant to leave the store to smoke a cigarette, at which point the defendant would approach with his .45-caliber pistol. The two men accompanying Jones would zip tie the attendant and force him back into the station to open the safe.
When the attendant failed to exit, however, the group sent the defendant’s girlfriend into the store to see what was happening and to determine if the men could kick in the door to the register area. After she reported back, the three men entered the store. Immediately upon entering, Jones pushed his pistol under the protective glass and shot the attendant in the back as the attendant tried to run away. Jones and the two men ransacked the store and stole the attendant’s wallet as he lay dying on the floor.
The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26 and faces a maximum possible term of life in prison.
This case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Parisi and Amanda McCool.
