Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison, Conspirators Sentenced to 6 Months in Jail for Armed Robbery of Norfolk Woman in 2023

NORFOLK, Va. — Dakari Emmanuello Zin Cloud-Hatcher, 25, was sentenced on Tuesday to serve five years in prison for robbing a woman at gunpoint last year. J’Sean Antonio Bell, 23, and Detroy Nevaeh Mason, 22, both earlier pleaded guilty to conspiring with Mr. Cloud-Hatcher to steal from the woman and were both sentenced to serve six months in jail.

On Aug. 18, 2023, the three co-defendants drove to the Marathon gas station on Norview Avenue, and Mr. Bell and Mr. Mason went inside the convenience store while Mr. Cloud-Hatcher remained with the vehicle. Inside, Mr. Bell and Mr. Mason overheard a patron tell a store clerk that she had recently earned a $200 bonus at work. Mr. Bell and Mr. Mason then told Mr. Cloud-Hatcher what they heard the patron say when they returned to the vehicle. After the patron left the store and got into her vehicle, the men followed her in their vehicle to her residence a short distance away and parked around the corner from her. When the woman got out of her car, Mr. Cloud-Hatcher approached her while wearing a mask, pointed a gun in her face, and demanded her $200. Security footage from the convenience store and a doorbell camera captured the moments leading up to the robbery and the robbery itself.

On Tuesday, Mr. Cloud-Hatcher entered an agreement to plead guilty to armed robbery, using a firearm in the commission of robbery, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, and the Commonwealth dismissed additional charges against him. Mr. Cloud-Hatcher agreed to be sentenced to serve five years in prison, with another 10 years suspended on the conditions that Mr. Cloud-Hatcher complete two years of uniform good behavior and one year of supervised probation following his release. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Mr. Cloud-Hatcher’s plea agreement, found him guilty, and sentenced him per the agreement.

Mr. Bell and Mr. Mason were initially charged with the same crimes as Mr. Cloud-Hatcher. In May, both co-defendants entered agreements to plead guilty to felony conspiracy to commit grand larceny, and the Commonwealth dismissed additional charges against them. Both men agreed to serve six months in jail in exchange for their guilty pleas. Judge David W. Lannetti accepted their plea agreements, found them both guilty of conspiracy, and sentenced them both per their plea agreements.

“Mr. Cloud-Hatcher committed a violent crime that frightened and endangered the victim, and his coconspirators gave him the information necessary for him to do it,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “I thank the victim and witnesses in the case for their help in holding all three of these men accountable for their actions.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Alberto Z. Herrero prosecuted each defendant’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Detective Patrick A. Garvey led the investigation.

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