Charlotte Man Is Sentenced To Prison For String Of Armed Robberies

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced Jonathan Dujan Gardin, 36, of Charlotte, to 220 months in prison and three years of supervised release, for committing a string of armed robberies of businesses in the Charlotte area, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Joining U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s is Robert R. Wells, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Johnny Jennings, of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).

According to filed documents and statements made in court, on February 16, 2019, Gardin and his co-conspirator, Mandale Roger Huntley, robbed the Family Dollar store located at 542 Valleydale Road, in Charlotte. According to court records, Huntley drove Gardin to the Family Dollar store, where Gardin entered the store, approached the cashier, pointed a firearm in cashier’s face and at other customers inside the store, and demanded money. Gardin obtained $195 from the cashier, and fled the scene on foot. Law enforcement apprehended Gardin and Huntley shortly thereafter.

Court records show that, over the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined Gardin was responsible for multiple armed robberies of local area businesses, including the January 3, 2018, robbery of the Sam’s Mart, located at 4200 Glenwood Drive, in Charlotte. During that incident, court records show that Gardin entered the Sam’s Mart, approached employees behind the cashier’s desk, pointed his firearm at multiple employees, and demanded the store’s money.  During the robbery, a store customer released his dog toward Gardin.  Gardin fired his gun at the dog, injuring the canine, before fleeing scene with approximately $250 of the store’s cash. 

On January 26, 2020, Gardin pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery of a business affecting interstate commerce or “Hobbs Act” robbery, carrying and brandishing a firearm, and discharging a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of a crime of violence. Huntley has pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and is currently awaiting sentencing.

The investigation was handled by the FBI and CMPD, with assistance from the Lancaster, South Carolina, Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanjeev Bhasker of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, are prosecuting the case.