Organizer of Home-Invasion Robbery Crew Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison

File Photo

Lamonte Johnson was sentenced this week to eight years in federal prison.

By Forum Staff

An Auburn, N.Y. man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiring to commit robbery and using force and threats in furtherance of robbery, in his role as lead organizer of a home-invasion crew, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday. The sentence will run consecutive to Johnson’s two 20 years-to-life state prison sentences that he was already serving following his conviction for a 1986 double homicide. Johnson was convicted of the federal robbery charges following a one-week jury trial in May 2022. Johnson’s four co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty to related offenses.

As proven at trial and detailed in public filings, in March 2019 Johnson, 54, was serving consecutive 20 years-to-life sentences for two murders in state prison when he organized a robbery crew with the goal of targeting Chinese-American victims. Johnson connected his half-brother John Martin with Shi Zhen Lin, a Maspeth resident and former inmate who Johnson knew from prison.

File Photo
“[T]oday’s sentence ensures [Johnson] has been held accountable for these vicious crimes, and that there is justice for his victims,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Peace.

During the robbery, Mobley and Daniels held at gunpoint a group of women and children and sexually assaulted one of the victims.

Johnson’s co-conspirators have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from seven years, for Lin, to 19 years for Mobley.

“Lamonte Johnson was not deterred by prison walls from organizing armed home-invasion robberies, but today’s sentence ensures he has been held accountable for these vicious crimes, and that there is justice for his victims,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.