RALEIGH, N.C. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - North Carolina, Eastern), published as received.

RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal judge sentenced Timarcus Lavonnte Britt, 29, to 35 years in federal prison for robbing four gas stations while brandishing a gun. 

“Britt and his crew of thugs terrorized hard-working citizens as they prowled around Eastern NC one late night in July 2023. These men traded decades of their lives to steal a few bucks and cheap cigars. For the next 35 years, he can sit behind federal bars, living with the weight of his crimes and reflecting on the consequences of his actions: steal, gets steel.” said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle. 

Three individuals including Britt, Jaliek Grant, and a juvenile, engaged in a spree of four armed robberies on July 11, 2023, between 1:00 and 4:00 a.m. in Greenville, Williamston, and Robersonville. Britt’s crew started by driving over 50 miles from their homes in Northampton County to Greenville and robbed a woman at gunpoint in the parking lot outside of a Speedway on Highway 264. The victim described how two masked men ran up on each side of her car, pointed guns at her, and took her cell phone.

Next, they drove to another Speedway in Greenville. Two masked men burst into the store waving guns with extended magazines. They pushed behind the counter, shoved the guns into the cashier’s face, and demanded money. After emptying the register and stealing the cashier’s phone, they ran out of the store.

Then the crew drove to a Speedway on NC 33 in Greenville, wearing the same outfits and armed with guns. Again, they pointed their guns at the cashier’s head, emptied the register, and stole cigarettes and Backwoods cigarillos. They repeated the same pattern at Speedway stores in Williamston and Robersonville—two suspects, same outfits, same guns, shoved in the cashiers’ faces, and stole money, cigarettes, and Backwoods cigarillos.

Britt’s gang ended their spree at a Speedway in Oak City. After the spate of other robberies, Martin County Sheriff’s Deputies thankfully called ahead to employees at the Oak City store with a timely warning: lock the doors. When the criminals arrived at the Oak City store at 4:15 a.m., they could not figure how to open the glass doors, so they just tucked their tails and ran away.

W. Ellis Boyle, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement. The FBI, ATF, Greenville Police Department, Pitt County Sheriff’s Office, Williamston Police Department, Martin County Sheriff’s Office, and Robersonville Police Department investigated the case.

A copy of this press release is located on our website. Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:24-CR-00068-C-2.