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Press Release

Man Responsible for Centralia Robberies Gets Six and a Half Years in Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Illinois

 

Dazhai Q. Brumfield, 20, has been sentenced to serve 78 months in federal prison for his role in a string of violent robberies committed in 2017 in Centralia, Illinois, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Steven D. Weinhoeft, announced today. Brumfield and a co-defendant, Ernestine Fields, 31, were named in a four-count superseding indictment filed in May 2018. Fields, a Chicago native, pleaded guilty and was sentenced earlier this year to one year and one day in prison. Brumfield, who is from Centralia, pleaded guilty last November to charges of conspiracy and interference with commerce by robbery.

Evidence presented in court established that Brumfield had participated in six armed robberies beginning in September 2017 and ending with his arrest on December 17, 2017. The victim businesses include Fuel-Vend, Huck’s Food Store, Domino’s Pizza, Hunan House and Lincoln Liquor. In three of the robberies, business employees were threatened at gunpoint and then struck in the face or head with the butt of a handgun. Brumfield specifically admitted that during the Huck’s robbery, he struck the cashier in the face with a pistol and then took all the money out of the cash register. Brumfield also admitted that the robberies were planned over Facebook.

As part of his sentence, Brumfield was ordered to repay $2,177 in restitution to the victim businesses. After his prison term is completed, Brumfield will serve three years of supervised release.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI with assistance from the Centralia Police Department.

Updated March 13, 2019

Topic
Violent Crime