Jermaine Dawes, a 33-year-old resident of Tampa, has pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, conspiracy to commit those robberies, and brandishing a firearm during both incidents. The charges stem from the armed robberies of two convenience stores in Tampa in July 2024. According to court records, Dawes conspired with three others—Ronald Brown, E’Barous Harris, and Tra-Vontae Watson—to carry out the crimes.
Dawes faces up to 20 years in prison for each robbery charge. For the firearm offenses, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years and could receive up to life imprisonment. Any sentence for the firearm charges will be served consecutively to any other imposed sentences. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced Dawes’s plea agreement. Brown, Harris, and Watson had previously entered guilty pleas; their sentencing hearings are still pending.
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and Tampa Police Department worked on the case. Law enforcement located the defendants at a hotel in Tampa days after the robberies occurred. Surveillance footage showed Dawes getting into and out of the driver’s seat of a vehicle linked to the robberies while one co-defendant was seen entering with a firearm. Authorities executed search warrants at several hotel rooms associated with the group and recovered a rifle believed to have been used in one of the robberies.
Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman is prosecuting this case.
The prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America—a national initiative by the Department of Justice aimed at combating illegal immigration, dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and reducing violent crime through coordinated efforts involving programs such as Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).
