Two men from the Lansing area have been dealt sentences by the federal court for brandishing firearms in a convenience store, an incident that witnesses described as terrifying, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office reported by Lansing State Journal. Quentin Earl Booth, aged 39, receiving a 71-month stint in prison followed by three years' supervised release and Derrick Smith Jr., 30, getting a 57-month sentence with two years subsequent supervised release.
Accounts state that the September 2023 chaos unfolded when Smith barged into the store hefting an assault rifle while Booth was spotted holstering a handgun and stowing a rifle in a vehicle, "Everybody is going to die," one defendant announced forebodingly, as cited by officials in the press release, during the ordeal Booth and Smith faced charges as felons in illegal possession of a firearm and Booth's criminal history paints the portrait of a man thrice-convicted, with a rap sheet including attempted armed robbery and a felony linked to a domestic incident, while Smith has done time for a robbery conspiracy in Florida and for carrying a concealed weapon.
The surveillance footage reviewed by law enforcement captured Smith menacingly aiming the rifle inside the store and at a passing car once outside, the events leading up to these judgments explained in detail by an announcement on the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Michigan website, with U.S. Attorney Mark Totten expressing that "Booth and Smith inflicted sheer terror on people just carrying out their daily lives," affirming a zero-tolerance policy on such violence and the commitment of his office to ensuring the safety of all community members.
In a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Michigan website, ATF Special Agent in Charge James Deir remarks emphasized the gravity of these actions, stating, "Quentin Booth and Derrick Smith Jr. are career offenders with repeat felony convictions prohibiting them from possessing a firearm," Deir indicated that the pair's exercise of extremely poor judgment during the altercation led inevitably to serious repercussions and that the community is poised to benefit from their removal from the streets, these cases emerged from the collaborative efforts of Michigan State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob S. Metoxen, Austin J. Hakes, and Constance R. Turnbull helming the prosecutions.
