(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)
A Joplin man was sentenced in federal court today for the armed robbery of a local jewelry store and a carjacking.
Paul Lloyd, 34, of Joplin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 25 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Lloyd to pay $7,615 in restitution.
On Jan. 19, 2017, Lloyd pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines.
According to court documents, Lloyd entered Select Jewelers in Joplin on March 17, 2016. He approached an employee and asked to see several pieces of jewelry, selected a necklace for purchase, and walked to the cash register. Lloyd then produced a firearm and demanded that the clerk “give me all the jewelry.” Lloyd then stated “I’m not kidding,” and discharged the firearm into the wall. The clerk opened the cash register and gave him the money; Lloyd grabbed several pieces of jewelry from a display case and left the store.
The bullet fired by Lloyd penetrated the wall of the jewelry store and traveled into the adjoining restaurant, which was then occupied by a number of patrons. No one suffered any injuries.
Two days later, on March 19, 2016, Lloyd stole a Ford Mustang from its owner at gunpoint. The owner of the Mustang told law enforcement that Lloyd claimed his girlfriend had kicked him out of his home and that he needed a ride. The owner of the Mustang drove Lloyd to the intersection of Central and McKee in Joplin, where Lloyd asked to be dropped off. When the owner of the Mustang pulled to the side of the road, Lloyd produced a firearm and ordered him to get out. Lloyd then drove the vehicle away.
Law enforcement officers were able to determine that the vehicle was in Cherokee County, Kan., by tracing the location of the victim’s cell phone, which had been left in the Mustang. Cherokee County Sheriff’s deputies located the vehicle and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. Lloyd led the deputies on a chase until he crashed the vehicle into a fence and fled on foot. Deputies were able to apprehend Lloyd after his foot became entangled in a barbed wire fence and they deployed a taser. Deputies recovered a loaded SCCY 9mm firearm next to the driver’s side door of the Mustang.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Lloyd, who was released from prison six months prior to the jewelry store robbery, has three prior felony convictions for assault with a dangerous weapon, to prior felony convictions for attempting to elude a police officer, three prior felony convictions for tampering with a motor vehicle, and prior felony convictions for stealing a motor vehicle, burglary, escape from custody, running a roadblock and placing a bodily fluid on a police officer.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Joplin, Mo., Police Department, the Cherokee County, Kan., Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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