A Twin Cities man, identified as 32-year-old David Devor Harris, has been dealt a nearly eight-year prison sentence for his part in the raid of a tobacco store in Apple Valley. This sentence comes as a result of a 2023 Hobbs Act robbery, as pointed out by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Harris, having played his role in the crime, now faces 95 months behind bars accompanied by a subsequent two-year day watch of supervised release.
Per court files, on January 23, 2023, Harris was allegedly the wingman in the hold-up, abetting Deshawn Terrell Johnson. Post-robbery, the duo made an escape in a black Dodge Charger. Hunted down in the vicinity, Apple Valley Police officers were in hot pursuit. Johnson bolted from the car, taking his chances on foot, but it was Harris who got nabbed right off the bat. In his initial interaction, Harris tried to dupe law enforcement, spinning a tale of how he had been the victim of a carjacking. The cops, however, weren't fooled for long, quickly piecing together the longstanding acquaintance between the two men.
Yesterday, Justice was delivered by U.S. District Court Judge Jerry W. Blackwell when he handed down Harris' sentence. Earlier this year, Harris owned up to his part in the crime by pleading guilty on January 9 to a single count of aiding and abetting interference with commerce by robbery, as detailed in a release by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Johnson, the co-conspirator in this narrative, had already entered his own guilty pleas on a hefty list of charges: one count of bank robbery, another for a bank robbery attempt, his participation in interfering with commerce by robbery, and brandishing a firearm in a violent crime. Now awaiting his own day of reckoning to be sentenced at a later date, Johnson's future hangs in a similar balance. It was Harris, however, who left identification cards, and plastic gloves, and de-plated their shared car revealing the extent of their pre-thought-out robbery plans.
The investigation that led to these legal outcomes was a combined effort, brought forth through the diligent work of the Apple Valley and Lakeville Police Departments, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordan L. Sing and Evan B. Gilead are credited with prosecuting this case, which has now closed one chapter with Harris’s sentencing, while Johnson’s conclusion remains pending.
