A Downey man was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison for armed robberies of GameStop stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties that netted more than $132,000 in merchandise, cash and employees’ cell phones.
Frederick Lopez Jr., 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, who also ordered him to pay $132,300 in restitution.
Lopez pleaded guilty in August to one federal count each of interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Between August and October 2018, Lopez robbed GameStop stores in Lynwood, Rowland Heights, West Covina and Brea. He entered the stores at night, sometimes with an accomplice, pulled a handgun from his waistband and used it to threaten store employees. Lopez then would order GameStop employees to load game consoles and video games into store bags.
During the West Covina robbery on Oct. 24, 2018, Lopez ordered the GameStop clerks into the store’s back room, demanded their cell phones and destroyed the store’s telephone. Lopez, who was armed with a handgun, then ordered one of the employees to help carry stolen items out to a nearby minivan.
In total, Lopez stole $131,000 in merchandise and $1,300 in cash during the heists. Lopez was arrested last March.
“The serious nature of (Lopez’s) offenses can hardly be overstated,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum, filed in Los Angeles federal court. “Armed robberies such as these, where firearms are brandished at victims, also leave lasting substantial stress and trauma that victims remember for years, some for their entire lives.”
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