Four Tampa men are headed to federal prison for a long stretch after admitting their roles in a pair of armed robberies at Hillsborough County 7‑Eleven stores in July 2024. The sentences, which range from roughly 14 years to just over 20 years, followed guilty pleas to conspiracy and firearm offenses, according to federal prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday sentenced Tra‑Vontae Watson, 32, to 20 years and five months; Ronald Brown, 25, to 15 years; Jermaine Dawes, 33, to 14 years and 10 months; and E'barous Harris, 27, to 14 years and seven months, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said each man had already pleaded guilty, and that Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha Newman handled the prosecution.
What prosecutors say happened
Court filings and local coverage indicate the crew hit two Hillsborough County 7‑Eleven locations just two days apart in July 2024. Prosecutors say the first robbery happened on July 14 at the South 50th Street store near Palm River Road, where about $550 was taken and a customer was forced to the ground and robbed of a cellphone and cash. On July 16, the same group allegedly struck a store on West Waters Avenue near North Boulevard, where a clerk was pistol‑whipped and more than $1,400 in cash and around $4,200 in merchandise were taken, as reported by FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
Motel surveillance helped investigators
According to prosecutors, investigators tracked the suspects to a Tampa motel. Surveillance video there showed the four men getting in and out of the same vehicle used in the robberies and captured a rifle being loaded into the car. When law enforcement executed search warrants on multiple motel rooms, they recovered a rifle that federal prosecutors said matched the weapon seen in the surveillance footage, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Who investigated and prosecuted
Federal filings and local reporting say the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Tampa Police Department worked the case. WFTV reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha Newman led the prosecution in U.S. District Court, where Judge Merryday handed down the sentences.
Local context
Prosecutors have framed this case as one piece of a broader local and federal push against violent retail crime, while area law enforcement has been ramping up efforts against organized theft crews. In May 2026, a Hillsborough County retail‑theft sting recovered millions of dollars in stolen goods and led to multiple arrests, underscoring the county’s growing focus on coordinated retail crime operations, according to Spectrum Bay News 9.
The sentences close out a federal case that started with indictments filed last year and was ultimately sealed by guilty pleas and detailed motel surveillance footage. The four men will serve their time in federal prison, and additional information on the case will be reflected in court records and future filings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
