Columbus armed robber gets 21-year sentence

COLUMBUS — A Columbus man who committed seven violent armed robberies with his stepbrother in 2021, holding store employees at gunpoint and firing shots at people, was sentenced to serve 259 months in prison.

Janerio Jones, 27, was sentenced to serve 259 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Clay Land after he pleaded guilty to two counts of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence on Dec. 20, 2022. Co-defendant Quentin Anderson, 29, of Columbus, was sentenced to serve 200 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on June 14.

Anderson previously pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit an offense on Feb. 24. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Janerio Jones and Quentin Anderson embarked on a violent robbery spree that caused mayhem in the Columbus community and inflicted lasting harm on their victims,” U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said. “Our office will do everything in our power to hold dangerous offenders accountable and support local, state and federal law enforcement in their efforts to curb violent crime.”

“No one should ever be terrorized physically or emotionally, like the victims in these violent armed robberies were,” Rich Bilson, special supervisory resident agent of FBI Atlanta’s Columbus office, said. “Thanks to the assistance from our local law enforcement partners, Jones and Anderson will spend a long time behind bars where they won’t be able to wreak havoc on any more innocent civilians.”

“In the span of a few days, the defendants charted a path of violent armed robberies at multiple businesses across Columbus,” Columbus Police Department Deputy Chief Lance Deaton said. “Thanks to the collaborative effort with our state and federal partners, these individuals were arrested before they could terrorize another business and its employees. These sentencings send a clear message that violent crime will not be tolerated in our community.”

According to court documents, Jones and Anderson together robbed seven businesses in Columbus between Jan. 18, 2021, and Feb. 22, 2021. On the afternoon of Jan. 18, the defendants robbed both the Little Caesars on Buena Vista Road and the Dollar General on Crystal Drive within an hour and a half of each other. At Little Caesars, the entire cash register was removed from the store and the store employees took cover at the back of the store once they realized the robbers had a gun.

At Dollar General, the robbers attempted to take the cash register, failed and fled on foot. Four days later, on Jan. 22, the defendants held up the Forrest Road Package on Forrest Road. One of the robbers pointed a gun in the face of a store employee while the other attempted to rob an employee at the back of the store. The cash register tray was taken.

The following day, on Jan. 23, the owner of Jerry’s Food Mart on St. Mary’s Road was robbed at gunpoint by Jones and Anderson. The robbers took the owner’s wallet, store merchandise and cash. On Jan. 27, the owner of the Super C Food Mart on Decatur Street was robbed at gunpoint. The owner refused to give the robbers cash, and Jones fired a round at the cashier, which struck a protective glass barrier. As they exited the building, Jones fired another round at the owner which penetrated the glass barrier, narrowly missing him. The store owner fired his own gun at the assailants.

On the evening of Feb. 4, the defendants and another individual robbed the Quality Inn on Macon Road. Jones pointed his handgun at the property owner’s head and stole money out of the hotel safe; the men fled on foot. On Feb. 22 at approximately 8:53 p.m., the defendants robbed the Marco’s Pizza on University Avenue. Jones fired his gun into the air when the robbers entered the restaurant and demanded money. They fled with stolen cash.

Several Marco’s Pizza employees quit their jobs after the violent incident. Anderson was taken into custody on April 14, 2021, at a residence in Stockbridge. Jones was taken into custody on Aug. 11, 2021, at a motel in Forest Park.

The case was investigated by FBI and the Columbus Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Williams prosecuted the case for the government.