A Detroit resident was sentenced yesterday in federal court to more than eight years in prison for his role in an armed robbery of an Iraqi diplomat and his wife, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.

McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Paul Abbate, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Division, Special Agent in Charge David R. Eberhardt, Diplomatic Security Service and Chief Michael Patton, West Bloomfield Police Department.

U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman imposed sentence on James Frederick Dubose, 24, to a mandatory minimum sentence of 84 months in prison for using a firearm during a crime of violence and a consecutive sentence of 20 months in prison for assault of a foreign official using a deadly weapon. Dubose had pleaded guilty to these two offenses in December. At sentencing, Dubose was also ordered to pay $4,150 in restitution to the victims.

According to the documents filed in this case, on November 11, 2012, the defendant and his co-defendant targeted the victims, an Iraqi diplomat and his wife, as they were shopping at the Meijer store in Southfield, Michigan. The defendants then followed the victims to their residence. Dubose and his co-defendant approached the victims inside the garage after the victims had exited their vehicle. Dubose held the victims at gunpoint, threatened to shoot them and stole their jewelry. Dubose and his co-defendant then ran from the garage and fled the scene. Dubose was arrested by Southfield Police on November 23, 2012, in possession of the same firearm used in the armed robbery.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, and the West Bloomfield Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ronald W. Waterstreet and Cathleen M. Corken.