Federal Jury Convicts Thomasboro Grocery Store Robber

Joseph Clinton

A federal jury convicted Joseph Alexander Clinton, 35, of Charlotte, NC, on conspiracy, armed robbery and use of a firearm charges following a two-day trial, which ended on Tuesday, June 14, 2011.

On September 22, 2010, Clinton was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for all three charges he was convicted of.  According to the evidence presented at trial, during the course of a robbery of the Thomasboro Grocery Store, located at 231 Bradford Dr, Joseph Clinton and his co-conspirator, Davenon Farmer, threatened store employees at gunpoint. During the robbery, they also stole a large amount of cash money from the store.

Further evidence revealed that during Clinton's flight from the robbery and to enable their escape, one of the co-conspirators shot at a uniformed CMPD police officer who was in pursuit of the suspect. 

“This was an especially frightening crime in which the lives of innocent bystanders were put in jeopardy and a law enforcement officer could have been killed in his attempt to capture the robbers,” U.S. Attorney Tompkins said. “I am thankful that no one was injured and want to express my appreciation of our law enforcement partners for the thoroughness of their investigation which helped us take this dangerous individual off our streets,” Tompkins added.

Davenon Farmer

“The illegal use of a firearm in any violent crime is unacceptable,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge Graham.  “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners as a single cohesive unit to identify and prosecute those individuals that engage in this type of criminal conduct,” Graham added.

“We recognize the importance of strong relationships between law enforcement agencies, as collaboration is always crucial,” said Chief Monroe of CMPD. “Whenever there is an opportunity to share resources that will help expedite an investigation, we are more than willing to do so because the safety of our citizens is our foremost responsibility.”

Joseph Clinton has been in local federal custody in Western District of North Carolina since November 10, 2010, and will remain in custody until his sentencing date, which has not yet been set.  Clinton faces up to 20 in prison for the conspiracy and armed robbery charges and a consecutive sentence of at least 5 years for the firearms charge. The consecutive sentence would become at least ten years should the Court find the firearm was discharged in furtherance of the conspiracy or armed robbery.

The investigation was handled by the ATF and the CMPD. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert J. Gleason and J. George Guise of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.