Tulsa Police aid Thursday was a very good day for the department. A group of suspected gang members in Tulsa face a ten count Federal indictment after a violent robbery ring was busted.
Vernon Hill, Christopher Lewis, Deandre Hopkins, Marquis Devers, Dontayne Tiger, James Miller, Kenneth Hopkins and Dejuan Hill were indicted for conspiracy, multiple robberies and use of firearms during and in commission of the robberies charged robberies for robberies dating back to 2009 and 2010. All of the men are in the Tulsa County Jail.
The indictment alleges the suspects are members or affiliates of the Hoover Crips Street Gang and they conspired to rob banks, pharmacies and a credit union in Tulsa. Including a robbery at a Tulsa Municipal Employees Credit Union in September of 2011 where a shot was fired inside the credit union.
“This is very satisfying. These folks were dangerous an armed robbery suspect is always a trigger pull away from being a murder suspect. This is good for all Tulsans,” Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said.
The indictment alleges on August 26, 2009, Vernon James Hill, robbed the IBC Bank located near 41st and Garnett, and demanded money from an IBC employee.
Also alleged that on February 13, 2010, defendants Marquis Deron Devers, Kenneth Hopkins, and others robbed the Dooley Pharmacy located at 4120 South 25th West Avenue, while wearing masks and brandishing firearms.
Also alleged Deandre Hopkins, and others unknown to the grand jury, drove in stolen vehicles to separate pharmacies: the T. Roy Barnes Pharmacy, Metro Pharmacy and Medical Supplies, Inc. Then, in each instance, they entered the pharmacies wearing masks. During each of the pharmacy robberies, the robbers demanded money and controlled substances from pharmacy employees.
The indictment also alleges Lewis, D. Hopkins, Devers, Tiger and Miller robbed the Tulsa Municipal Employees Federal Credit Union, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and that the defendants discharged a firearm during the robbery while inside the credit union.
The indictment also includes a November 5, 2011 robbery of the Arvest Bank near 2nd and Memorial, which was committed by Dejuan Legmar Hill. Vernon Hill and Stanley Hill have already been convicted of this same robbery after separate jury trials.
Tulsa Police Department Robbery Sergeant Brandon Watkins says he believes these indictments send a very clear message to criminals and gang members in the city.
“We're extremely good at catching people and putting people in prison.”
If convicted of the conspiracy and robberies, each defendant faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each count. For the firearms related counts, each defendant could be sentenced to between 7 and 25 years in prison for each count. Sentences imposed in relation to each of the firearms related counts are required to run consecutively to all other counts.
“These guys are looking at spending, with consecutive terms, the rest of their lives in prison over a short term windfall,” Watkins told FOX23.
