LAS VEGAS, NV—The last of four defendants who participated in the high speed robberies of four Las Vegas convenience stores during April 2012, was sentenced to prison this week, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden for the District of Nevada.

Michael Hall, 28, of Las Vegas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey on Monday, Oct. 20, 2014, to 194 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Hall pleaded guilty on Feb. 19, to four counts of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

“We are working with our local police departments to prosecute federally deserving defendants who use guns to commit store robberies,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “Fortunately more victims were spared and this robbery spree was terminated because of excellent police work by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the alert officer who observed the last robbery and chased down the defendants by car and on foot.”

Hall was the getaway driver for each of the robberies that occurred between about 4:00 and 4:30 p.m. on April 6, 2012, causing law enforcement to dub the crimes the “30 minutes or less” series. Hall’s co-defendants, Delon Hunter, 18, William Bonaparte, 24, and Erica Bowden-Payne, 26, all pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison. In each robbery, Hunter pointed a handgun at Bonaparte, who was posing as a customer. Hunter threatened to shoot Bonaparte if the store employee did not turn over money and other items. A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer observed the last robbery in progress near Cheyenne Road and Buffalo Drive, and confronted the defendants as they were leaving the store. The defendants fled in the getaway vehicle driven by Hall, leading officers on a high speed chase before their vehicle came to a stop near Tenaya Way and Rainbow Boulevard. Three of the defendants fled on foot and were apprehended nearby. The fourth defendant, Bowden-Payne, remained in the vehicle and was apprehended there.

The case was investigated by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cristina D. Silva. The case was screened through the Southern Nevada Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force, a team of federal and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors who meet on a regular basis to discuss arrests involving guns and explosives. Project Safe Neighborhoods, also known as PSN, is a Department of Justice initiative and a nationwide commitment to reduce gun and gang crime in America.