PHILADELPHIA – United States Lawyer Jacqueline C. Romero introduced that Christopher Lamont Stimpson, Jr., 24, of Greensboro, North Carolina, was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in jail, three years of supervised launch, and ordered to pay $1,660 in restitution by United States District Courtroom Decide Edward G. Smith for robbing a Lancaster County pet breeder and his household at gunpoint as a way to steal 5 French Bulldog puppies in October 2020.
In April 2022, the defendant was convicted of theft which interferes with interstate commerce (Hobbs Act theft), and interstate transportation of stolen items in reference to the theft. Proof offered at trial proved that as a way to acquire entry to the puppies, canines with a complete worth of greater than $23,000, Stimpson posed as a buyer in search of to buy 5 French Bulldog puppies, solely to drag out a gun, level it on the victims, and steal the animals. One of many victims recorded the registration of the defendant’s getaway car, which was traced again to a rental firm in Greensboro, North Carolina. A buyer of the breeder who had additionally been keen on buying one of many puppies later found an Instagram posting which featured a video and {a photograph} of the puppies, in addition to pictures of Stimpson. In December 2020, the defendant was arrested in North Carolina.
“The defendant threatened a household at gunpoint inside their very own residence as a way to greedily and callously steal weak, residing creatures,” stated U.S. Lawyer Romero. “ Our Workplace is dedicated to prosecuting harmful, armed criminals, regardless of the place they might run and conceal. We’re grateful to our regulation enforcement companions right here in Pennsylvania and in North Carolina for his or her help in bringing Stimpson to justice.”
“This was a daunting armed theft that noticed the victims menaced at gunpoint,” stated Jacqueline Maguire, Particular Agent in Cost of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “The truth that puppies have been the property taken renders this crime extra uncommon, however no much less severe. Christopher Stimpson made the very unhealthy choice to come back to Pennsylvania and take these pups by pressure, and this sentence holds him accountable for his actions.”
This case is a part of Mission Protected Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing collectively all ranges of regulation enforcement and the communities they serve to cut back violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everybody. The Division of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as a part of the Division’s renewed concentrate on concentrating on violent criminals, directing all U.S. Lawyer’s Workplaces to work in partnership with federal, state, native, and tribal regulation enforcement and the local people to develop efficient, locally-based methods to cut back violent crime.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ephrata Police Division, and the Greensboro (NC) Police Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Lawyer Mark S. Miller.
###