A 25-year-old Houston man has landed a significant prison sentence after pleading guilty to a robbery rampage involving Houston-area cellphone stores. Quantez Whiteside, who had been out of federal prison for just half a year, embarked on what would become a three-day spate of robberies in early 2021. U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt has sentenced Whiteside to 21+ years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Texas.
Following his guilty plea on February 20, Whiteside's sentencing includes 72 months for three counts of interfering with commerce by robbery, which the court has ordered consecutively added to 168 months for using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Adding to the weight of his sentence was an extra 18 months for committing these offenses while still under federal supervised release, totaling a 258-month term to be followed by three years of supervised release. Evidencing a substantial lapse in decision-making, it was after providing his own cellphone number during one of the heists that led investigators directly to him.
In January of 2021, the robbery spree began at a Metro by T-Mobile store on West Bellfort Road, where Whiteside used a gun to intimidate employees, threaten their lives, and ran off with around 30 cellphones and cash. Within days, he struck a store on Bissonnet Street with similar tactics, herding employees to collect phones in a pink backpack he provided. The Justice Department noted that Whiteside's reckless behavior escalated with each robbery.
It was at another Metro by T-Mobile store on Beechnut Street, barely 30 minutes after his previous heist, where Whiteside provided his personal cell number to an employee under the guise of wanting to purchase a phone. After the employee entered the information into the computer, Whiteside fled with stolen goods, the very cellphone number registering to his account, which investigators found at his residence alongside cellphones, firearms, and the aforementioned pink backpack. U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani acknowledged Whiteside becoming sloppy in this spree, his left cell number serving "as breadcrumbs leading investigators right to him."
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in conjunction with the Houston Police Department, carried out the investigation that ultimately apprehended Whiteside. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Wirsing prosecuted the case.
