A jury convicted a 26-year-old Kent man May 26 of 17 felonies related to a string of armed marijuana dispensary and bank robberies during a crime spree between December 2021 and June 2022 throughout the Puget Sound region.
Shannon Hartfield recruited, supplied, and managed a team of young people – often juveniles – who went on a robbery spree, according to a May 27 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release. The jury deliberated about three days following the three-week jury trial in Seattle. U.S. District Judge Lauren King scheduled sentencing for Aug. 25. Hartfield remains in custoday at the Federal Detension Center in SeaTac.
In the conspiracy, Hartfield took on a managerial role when carrying out the robberies, according to the DOJ. He recruited others to join his robbery team – often using juveniles, some as young as 14-years old. He recruited over social media and text messages. Hartfield and co-conspirators picked the robbery targets, gave robbers firearms to use, and provided cars the robbery crew used to flee the scenes – often at high rates of speed…