California Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Robberies

CONCORD, NH—Walter Williams, 44, of Compton, California, was sentenced in United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to 20 years in federal prison and three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to committing the robberies of the Hannoush Jewelers in Manchester, the Kay Jewelers in Tilton, and the Northeast Credit Union in Manchester, New Hampshire, between October and December of last year, announced United States Attorney John P. Kacavas.

The defendant was apprehended in December 2011 with his then-girlfriend Shyloe Johnson at the Landmark Hotel in Laconia. Johnson pled guilty to aiding and abetting two of the robberies and was sentenced earlier this year.

Also arrested in connection with the credit union robbery was Prince Sage of Brooklyn, New York. He pled guilty to that robbery in U.S. District Court and will be sentenced on November 29, 2012. Delano Nelson, also of Compton, California, was indicted in connection with both of the jewelry store robberies by a federal grand jury in August and is scheduled for trial in January 2013. Several other individuals have been charged in state court with lesser offenses related to the crimes.

The defendant pled guilty in August of this year. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to a three-year period of supervision by United States Probation.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Manchester Police Department, and the Tilton Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Helen White Fitzgibbon.