NORFOLK, VA—Edgar Brito, 21, of Virginia Beach, was sentenced today to 128 months in prison for the armed robbery of approximately $100,000 in cell phones from numerous businesses throughout Hampton Roads. Co-conspirator Daren Artis, 20, of Chesapeake, was sentenced to 128 months in prison on Sept. 17, 2015, and co-conspirator Alexander Horst, 23, of Virginia Beach, was sentenced to 110 months in prison on Sept. 21, 2015.

According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, the men committed a string of armed robberies of stores that sold cellular phones, including Radio Shack on Colley Avenue in Norfolk on Dec. 2, 2014; T-Mobile on Tidewater Drive in Norfolk on Dec. 7, 2014; and a T-Mobile store on Phoenix Drive in Virginia Beach on Jan. 1, 2015. During these robberies, the men entered the stores wearing masks and demanded employees at gunpoint to provide cash from the registers and cell phones.

As the three men fled from the Virginia Beach robbery they dropped one of their duffle bags, which contained stolen cell phones and a Greyhound bus ticket bearing Brito’s name. Detectives from the Virginia Beach Police Department arrested Brito and he confessed to the armed robbery. Nearly 40 cellular phones, a .357 handgun, and cash from the Virginia Beach armed robbery were recovered from the defendants.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia; and John S. Adams, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after the sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, and the Norfolk and Virginia Beach Police Departments. U.S. Attorney William D. Muhr and Virginia Assistant Attorney General and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:15-cr-46.