KANSAS CITY, MO—Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a conspiracy to commit several armed robberies at restaurants in the metropolitan area.

Jeremy Hunter, also known as “Heat,” 25, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to the charges contained in an April 15, 2015, federal indictment.

By pleading guilty today, Hunter admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to rob several fast food restaurants in the Kansas City area in the fall of 2014. Hunter admitted that he participated in one of the robberies, and loaned his assault rifle to co-conspirators to use in several other robberies.

Hunter stole $6,800 from a Chipotle in Blue Springs, Mo., on Nov. 16, 2014, after being given access to the back door by a co-conspirator who was employed by the restaurant. Armed with his assault rifle, Hunter forced the restaurant employees to the ground as he kicked the door into the manager’s office. Once in the manager’s office, Hunter ordered the supervisor to open the safe and put all the money into a green duffle bag. Hunter was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, black ski masks and blue latex surgical gloves to mask his identity.

Hunter’s three co-conspirators, who worked at the Blue Springs Chipotle restaurant, also robbed a Chipotle restaurant in Lee’s Summit, Mo., on Nov. 3, 2014, taking $1,600; a Burger King restaurant in Independence, Mo., on Nov. 10, 2014, taking $914; and a Burger King restaurant in Independence on Nov. 30, 2014, taking $565. Hunter loaned them his assault rifle to use in some of the robberies, in exchange for part of the proceeds.

Under federal statutes, Hunter is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison without parole for the charge of using a firearm in a crime of violence, to run consecutively to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole for the charge of conspiracy to obstruct commerce by robbery, plus a fine up to $500,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Ambrose, Jr. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Lee’s Summit, Mo., Police Department, the Blue Springs, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.