A 19-year-old Port Arthur man has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for a series of armed robberies in Jefferson County, Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. announced.
Jahmir Jacobi Riley pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone sentenced Riley to 216 months in federal prison on March 31, 2025.
Court documents state that Riley was responsible for multiple convenience store robberies in the fall of 2024. On September 24, 2024, the Checkpoint gas station on Gulfway Drive in Port Arthur was robbed, during which the clerk was pistol-whipped. Riley then robbed the Exxpress Mart gas station on Interstate-10 South in Beaumont on September 29, 2024, followed by the Hamshire Quick Mart gas station on Highway 73 on October 3, 2024. Witnesses and surveillance footage identified Riley as the suspect. One surveillance video showed him brandishing a firearm equipped with a machinegun conversion device, commonly referred to as a Glock switch.
A federal grand jury indicted Riley on December 4, 2024.
His sentencing falls under Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative targeting violent crime, transnational criminal organizations, and illegal firearms. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Beaumont Police Department, the Port Arthur Police Department, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Quinn prosecuted the case.
