Documented Crips Gang Pair Pleads Guilty to Beverly Hills Restaurant Shots-Fired Robbery
LOS ANGELES – Decades in prison looms large for two Rollin’ 30s Crips street gang-members who entered a crowded patio of a Beverly Hills restaurant and held a gun to a patron’s head for his a Richard Mille wristwatch. The FBI Los Angeles announced that the documented South L.A. gang members pleaded guilty on 09/29/2021 to multiple federal charges.
“Malik Lamont Powell (21), and Khai McGhee, a.k.a. “Cameron Smith,” (18), each pleaded guilty to three felony counts: conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, interference with commerce by robbery, and using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence,” said the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The gunfire resulted in a second restaurant customer being shot and wounded on that March 4th afternoon. “A struggle for the gun ensued, and at least two rounds were discharged from the firearm, one of which struck another restaurant patron in the leg,” said the DOJ.
The frantic scene in the outdoor-dining section of the Il Pastaio restaurant was in full gear. “The gun was left at the scene, but the robbers fled with the watch, which was worth approximately $500,000,” added the DOJ.
In addition, the pair was joined by a third Rollin’ 30s Crips gang member – Marquise Anthony Gardon (41), who’d pleaded guilty to two counts on 09/10/2021: interference with commerce by robbery, and using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
The three South L.A. defendants had scouted Beverly Hills for a target, and spotted the outside-diner wearing a watch, according to court documents. The FBI and the Beverly Hills Police Department investigated this federal matter.
Prosecutors in this case are Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph D. Axelrad and Jeffrey M. Chemerinsky of the Violent and Organized Crime Section. Gardon’s sentencing hearing was previously scheduled for November 29th.
“As a result of their guilty pleas, each defendant faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the robbery-related offenses, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “The firearms charge, because the weapon was discharged, carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life.”
The decades of looming Federal Prison time will be on the docket when United States District Judge John F. Walter is scheduled to sentence Powell and McGhee on Valentine’s Day – February 14, 2022.
