Organizer of Home-Invasion Robbery Crew Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison
While Incarcerated, Defendant Organized Robberies With Co-Conspirators Targeting Chinese American Victims in Queens, Long Island, and New Jersey
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Lamonte Johnson was sentenced by United States District Judge Raymond J. Dearie to 96 months’ imprisonment 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. 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.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced the sentence.
“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,” stated United States Attorney Peace.
Mr. Peace thanked the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New York City Police Department for their work leading the investigation.
As proven at trial and detailed in public filings, in March 2019 Johnson 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 former inmate who Johnson knew from prison. Lin’s role in the conspiracy was to identify Chinese American targets for the crew to rob. Martin recruited other members to join the crew and together they committed or attempted to commit multiple robberies in Queens, Long Island and New Jersey. In May 2019, Corey Mobley, Brandon Daniels, and Martin committed a home-invasion robbery in Little Neck, Queens. 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.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan Siegel and Michael W. Gibaldi are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Brittany Wissel.
The Defendant:
Lamonte Johnson
Age: 54
Auburn, New York
Defendants Previously Sentenced
JOHN MARTIN (also known as “Lil John” and “LJ”)
Age: 50
Brooklyn, New York
BRANDON DANIELS
Age: 28
Brooklyn, New York
SHI ZHEN LIN (also known as “Kevin Lin” and “Kev”)
Age: 31
Maspeth, New York
COREY MOBLEY
Age: 52
Brooklyn, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-221 (S-3)
