California men sentenced to years in federal prison for crime spree

A man from South Los Angeles was sentenced to six-and-a-half years  in federal prison for committing six armed robberies against businesses across the southland during a two-week crime spree, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

Colin Powell Lacey, 29, from Hyde Park, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to “one count of conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by robbery” during an August 2022 court date, a news release said.

The crimes occurred in late 2021 and Lacey mainly targeted 7-Eleven locations in Southern California.

“From Nov. 13, 2021, to Nov. 29, 2021, Lacey participated in the robbery of six businesses – five of which were 7-Eleven convenience stores. During the robberies, Lacey typically entered the stores, pointed a handgun at the store’s cashier and stole money – usually hundreds of dollars in cash belonging to the business,” a news release said.

Lacey didn’t act alone in his armed robberies. Kyle Richard Williams, a 26-year-old from Inglewood, was also sentenced to six years in federal prison in December 2022 for his role in the armed robberies at 7-Eleven locations in Hollywood and Mid-City.

Williams pled guilty to “to commit Hobbs Act robbery, two counts of Hobbs Act robbery, and one count of attempted Hobbs Act robbery,” a news release said.

In December 2021, Lacey and Williams attempted to rob another 7- Eleven location in El Segundo but fled the scene once an employee showed them that the cash register was empty. The two men also robbed a smoke shop in the Mid-City area that same night.

In total, the two men acquired a total of $2,859 from the robberies, a news release said.

The two men have been in police custody since March 2022.

The FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department collaborated on an investigation regarding these crimes.