Two men were recently convicted in the armed robbery of an off-duty U.S. Secret Service agent in Tustin, authorities said Monday. Jamonte Fitzgerald Johnson, 32, of Fontana, and E’shon Dwayne Dodson, 21, of Compton, were found guilty of felony charges after a jury trial. A third suspect, Bertran Claude Bell, 38, of Los Angeles, had previously pleaded guilty, according to a press release from the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Johnson, a third striker currently on federal parole for weapons violations, faces a maximum of 35 years to life in state prison due to prior strike convictions for burglary. Dodson could face up to six years in prison. Bell was already sentenced to six years, the press release detailed. The incident that led to their convictions occurred after a Los Angeles fundraiser attended by President Joe Biden, where law enforcement recovered a laptop bag, cell phone, and other items stolen from the agent after he shot and wounded one of the men during the robbery attempt.
DNA evidence on the stolen items linked Johnson to the crime, resulting in his arrest with assistance from California's Department of Parole. Dodson was apprehended in the Watts area by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau Burglary-Robbery Task Force, while Bell was taken into custody with the help also of the Sheriff’s Department, as reported by the Orange County DA’s Office.
