Philadelphia Man Pleads Guilty For his Role in a Robbery Spree Targeting Latino Businesses in North Philadelphia One Year Ago

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Omar White-Davis, 28, of Philadelphia, PA, pleaded guilty today to two counts of attempted Hobbs Act robbery, one count of Hobbs Act robbery, and one count of carrying and using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. White-Davis and a co-defendant, Acia Moore, 20, also of Philadelphia, were charged by Indictment with these offenses in connection with multiple armed robberies of businesses in the Feltonville and Juniata sections of North Philadelphia, including Café Tinto restaurant on Wyoming Avenue, which was targeted twice in two days.

According to the Indictment, the defendants attempted to rob and did rob a variety of small businesses, both together and separately, stealing approximately $3,100 dollars total between November 21 and December 6, 2021. The incidents detailed are as follows:

• On November 21, 2021: White-Davis attempted to rob the Ariel Grocery, 2000 block of E. Pacific Street;
• On December 1, 2021: Moore robbed the AlMolhem Store, 400 block of E. Wyoming Avenue;
• On December 2, 2021: White-Davis and Moore robbed Café Tinto, 100 block of E. Wyoming Avenue
• On December 4, 2021: Moore returned to Café Tinto approximately 48 hours later and robbed it again;
• On December 6, 2021: Moore robbed the Leslie Mini Market, 4200 block of Bodine Street; and,
• Also on December 6, 2021: approximately an hour later, Moore and White-Davis attempted to rob Hernandez Food and Deli Market, 4500 block of D Street. 

After pleading guilty today, White-Davis is set to be sentenced in April 2023 before the Honorable Gerald A. McHugh. Moore is listed for trial on these charges in January 2023. If convicted, Moore faces a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment, a five-year period of supervised release, and possible fines of over $1,000,000.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Eckert.