A Toronto couple whose crime spree included armed robberies at two Guelph electronics stores were done in by the very technology they were stealing.
Nakeem Johnson, 26, and Patrece Lall, 25, were sentenced in Gueph's Ontario Court of Justice Thursday on a variety of charges relating to a string of armed robberies across Southern Ontario in late 2012 and early 2013.
Those robberies included the Source store on Woodlawn Road and a Rogers store on Edinburgh Road where employees and a customer were held at gunpoint and threatened with being shot.
Johnson, who was found guilty on five robberies, received a 10-year jail sentence. He was given almost five years credit for the over three years he has been in custody on the charges.
Lall, a single mother of three young children, was the getaway driver in the robberies. She was found guilty in two robberies and received a five-year jail term. She got three months credit for a small amount of pre-trial custody.
Her lawyer said he plans to appeal.
Neither Johnson nor Lall said anything in court when given the opportunity to speak Thursday by Justice Bruce Durno.
Five people were originally charged in relation to seven connected robberies.
Three others previously pled guilty to lesser roles in the crimes.
Charges Johnson and Lall faced included robbery and possession of a restricted weapon.
Court heard that it was the couple's use of their cell phones during the robberies that led to police eventually tracking them down.
The couple would drive from their Toronto apartment to commit the crimes, with Lall the getaway driver waiting outside while Johnson went inside.
"These were sophisticated, well-planned robberies ... not spur of the moment events," Durno said in delivering the sentence, which was jointly agreed upon for submission by Crown Steve Hamilton and the two defence attorneys.
Johnson would cover his face with a bandana and brandish a black Glock handgun, threatening to shoot the terrified staff and pushing the barrel of the gun into their backs as he herded them to the rear of the stores or into a staff washroom.
Johnson sometimes tied their hands with zip ties and forced others to open the safe, where he would steal mostly high-end cell phones.
Other robberies by Johnson saw televisions and camera equipment taken, with police totalling the value of the haul from the five robberies at $285,000.
On one occasion, Johnson forgot to lock the front door to a store and a customer walked in on the robbery in progress.
That glitch started a string of events that led to their eventual capture.
Several times after that, Lall would text "Lock the door" to Johnson while he was committing the robbery.
During a lengthy investigation led by Sgt. Lester Tang, Guelph Police contacted cell service providers to find any evidence of cell phones used at the time, date and location of the robberies.
They got a match through records provided by Rogers.
That phone was then traced to being purchased at a kiosk at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, who provided police with information on the purchaser of that cell phone.
A few stakeouts, surveillance videos and search warrants later, Lall and Johnson were arrested.
Durno complimented police for their work in the lengthy and involved investigation that included Peterborough, Brantford and Aurora.
Court heard several victim impact statements Thursday from former employees of the stores that were robbed.
All suffered greatly following the robberies, several from depression, some from anxiety and at least two were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I would lie in bed at night crying," said Christine DeVries, who had nightmares.
Derek Asselin had night terrors.
Joshua Cutmore said his life "was changed forever" and he went into a deep depression, needing sleeping pills, anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication for a time.
He feared leaving his home and missed his grandmother's funeral because of that fear.
Jennifer Moreira said Johnson stole her cell phone, with all her pictures of her daughter and her personal information.
"I became paranoid," Moreira said, adding she battled depression and suicidal thoughts.
Jasmine Prince said to this day she fears being alone because of the trauma of the robbery.
Three other men previously pled guilty to their involvement in the robbery and handling of stolen goods.
