Two men were convicted Tuesday morning in the armed robbery of an off-duty Secret Service agent in Orange County during a visit from President Biden.
Jamonte Fitzgerald Johnson was convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon, with jurors also finding true sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a firearm.
Co-defendant Eshon Dwayne Dodson was convicted of robbery with a sentencing enhancement for being armed with a gun in the commission of a robbery.
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Johnson is slated to be sentenced on Nov. 22, while Dodson is scheduled for Jan.10.
A third conspirator, Bertran Claude Bell pleaded guilty in August two months after the robbery happened. Bell was convicted for being armed while committing the robbery, and was sentenced to six years in prison. He accepted a plea deal.
The robbery took place at the Tustin Field residential community in Orange County at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 15.
It happened about an hour after President Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Hollywood celebrities gathered in downtown Los Angeles to raise millions of dollars for the president’s reelection campaign.
Tustin police responded to Stratus Lane and West Wind Drive to reports of gunshots. The agent told police he was driving his department-issued vehicle when a car pulled up behind him in his driveway. One of the suspects jumped out, ran over to the agent and demanded, “Give me your bag,'' at gunpoint.
When a second suspect got out of the car the agent said he fired toward the suspect's vehicle because he feared they were armed. One suspect dropped his gun in the process.
The men then drove away with the agent's cell phone, radio, radio holster, lapel pins, flashlight, gun magazines among other items in his bag.
Police matched DNA found on the dropped gun to identify the suspects.
