A St. Louis man has been handed a lengthy prison sentence after a string of robberies across the city. As reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri, Jermel Rush, 43, pleaded guilty to committing seven robberies and one attempted robbery over the course of 2018, displaying a pattern of violent tactics and the use of firearms to intimidate his victims.
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig sentenced Rush to 12 years in federal prison, a judgment that underscores the severity of his crime spree. Armed with an Airsoft gun, Rush terrorized store clerks, at times physically assaulting them, while in others, threatening to kill if his demands were not met. In addition to the prison term, the judge ordered Rush to repay the sum of $4,237 to the businesses he robbed, a reminder that, for all the fear he sowed, the material gains were ultimately reclaimed by the justice system.
Rush's tactics included both the element of surprise and direct threats. He robbed a retail store by dragging a clerk to the register, and on another occasion, held employees of a grocery store at gunpoint with what appeared to be a large revolver. In his final three robberies, Rush escalated his methods, using a .40 caliber handgun — a lethal tool in stark contrast to the imitation firearm utilized in his earlier crimes.
Upon his arrest by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers, Rush was found in possession of the handgun described used in those last few robberies. This discovery tied the string of robberies together, providing critical evidence for the case investigated by local police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and subsequently prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Torrie J. Schneider.
