Portsmouth Man Sentenced for Robbery Conspiracy

NORFOLK, VA—Montarius Murry, 21, of Portsmouth, Va., was sentenced today in Norfolk federal court to 43 years in prison on conspiracy charges in connection with his role last year in the robbery of the Gold Shop in Portsmouth, which resulted in the slaying of an individual working there.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after Murry was sentenced by United States Chief District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith. Murry previously pled guilty to the charges of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and use of a firearm resulting in murder on October 21, 2011.

According to court documents, on the morning of October 6, 2010, Murry and his co-conspirators attempted to rob the Gold Shop, a pawn business located in Portsmouth. During the attempted robbery, one of Murry’s co-conspirators shot and killed Robert Nelson, who was watching the Gold Shop for his friend. In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Murry admitted to planning and participating in the conspiracy to rob the Gold Shop, but did not personally shoot Nelson, nor did he instruct any other person to shoot Nelson or agree with any other person that Nelson should be shot.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Portsmouth Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin L. Hatch and V. Kathleen Dougherty prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.