A South Los Angeles man was sentenced Monday to seven years and one month behind bars for his role in a series of armed robberies of mostly 7-Eleven stores in South Los Angeles during a crime spree two years ago.
D’Angelo Spencer, 27, pleaded guilty in February in downtown Los Angeles to federal charges of interference with commerce by robbery, known as a Hobbs Act crime, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Along with the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay a share of $7,167 in restitution.
According to the 2024 indictment, Spencer and three co-defendants committed a series of armed robberies of 7-Eleven stores in South Los Angeles and a CVS in Hollywood. The defendants traveled to the targeted stores in a BMW, jumped over counters, took money from cash registers and placed it into a bag, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A co-defendant, Charles Christopher, 25, of Compton, pleaded guilty in March to the same charges as Spencer and was sentenced to seven years and three months behind bars.
One of the defendants — either Christopher or Jordan Leonard, 26, of Torrance — pointed a firearm at a store employee or customer and demanded either their phone or their wallet, the indictment says.
On Nov. 28, 2023, following the robbery of a 7-Eleven in South Los Angeles, Leonard posted a photograph on Instagram with stacks of cash, captioned “love my bros we go hit every time,” prosecutors said. The Instagram accounts of Spencer and Christopher were also tagged.
In total, court papers show, the four defendants netted $7,817 in cash during the crime spree.
Leonard and Tazjar Rouse, 23, of Hollywood pleaded guilty in January to Hobbs Act and firearm offenses and are awaiting sentencing.