A Washington man who terrorized cash registers across the D.C. region will spend more than 17 years in federal prison after admitting to 29 armed robberies and attempted robberies in early 2022. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Tuesday sentenced 32-year-old Tavarus Thompson to 205 months behind bars, followed by five years of supervised release.
Federal case and charges
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, Thompson pleaded guilty on March 29, 2024, to conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery under the Hobbs Act and to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said Thompson "turned workplaces into war zones," as he and his crew hit businesses across the region. Prosecutors noted that the 205-month prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release.
The spree and arrests
As reported by FOX 5 DC, the robbery spree kicked off on Jan. 12, 2022, with a gunpoint holdup at a gas station on 18th Street NE. Court records and coverage indicate the crew went on to target restaurants, convenience stores and liquor outlets across Northeast, Northwest and Southeast D.C., as well as locations in nearby Maryland. Authorities stopped a stolen car on March 6, 2022, which led to the arrest of one co-defendant, and Thompson was taken into custody in South Carolina on March 18, 2022.
Co-defendants and sentences
The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that two co-defendants have already learned their fates. Stephon Harrigan was sentenced to 210 months in prison, and Aaron Harrigan received an 87-month term for their roles in the scheme. Prosecutors said Thompson admitted taking part in 29 robberies or attempted robberies and acknowledged that firearms were brandished in many of the incidents. The case was handled in federal court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Solomon Eppel of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses section.
Investigation and police work
The Metropolitan Police Department reported that detectives from its Carjacking Task Force teamed up with the FBI’s Washington Field Office to connect more than two dozen armed robberies from January through February 2022. MPD said in its public release that investigators compiled reported times and locations of the crimes and received assistance from the FBI’s Columbia, South Carolina field office and law enforcement partners in Maryland. Authorities said surveillance images, along with the traffic stop of a stolen vehicle, were crucial pieces of evidence that led to the arrests.
The law behind the case
Prosecutors charged Thompson under the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951, which applies when robberies or extortion affect interstate commerce; see the Legal Information Institute. They also used 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) for the brandishing counts, a provision that requires mandatory consecutive prison time when a firearm is used to intimidate victims; see the Legal Information Institute. That combination of statutes is the kind of legal math that turns a robbery spree into a punishment measured in decades rather than single digits.
What it means for the neighborhood
Prosecutors and investigators said the stiff sentences are meant to protect workers who were repeatedly targeted while on the job and to send a message to other mobile robbery crews eyeing quick cash. With Thompson beginning a lengthy federal term and years of supervised release waiting on the other side, law enforcement officials emphasized that coordinated work across local and federal agencies was essential to shutting down the spree.
