Two men convicted for home invasion robbery at south Sacramento gambling house
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- John Blount and Eddie White were convicted for 2018 home invasion robbery.
- Prosecutors said the Sacramento home was being used as an illegal gambling house.
- Blount and White are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 16 in Sacramento Superior Court.
Two men on Friday were convicted for their roles in a home invasion robbery almost eight years ago at an illegal gambling house in south Sacramento where victims were thrown to the ground and robbed at gunpoint.
John Edward Blount, 51, and Eddie Lee White, 37, were each convicted of six counts of robbery and three counts of attempted robbery in the 2018 break-in, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday in a news release.
Blount also was convicted of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
The home invasion robbery was reported about 1:20 a.m. Jan. 22, 2018, at the home in the 3700 block of 42nd Avenue, just east of Franklin Boulevard.
Prosecutors said Blount and White, armed with guns, entered the garage at the home being used as an illegal gambling house and held everyone inside at gunpoint.
Blount and White robbed money and personal items from the victims, many of whom were thrown to the ground, had furniture thrown at them and physically assaulted, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Sacramento County sheriff’s officials have said that a woman, who watched the home invasion robbery unfold on a video security camera system from another part of the house, called 911 that night to report the robbery in the garage.
The woman told sheriff’s officials that the men demanded money and other items from people playing cards and possibly gambling in the garage. Sheriff’s officials have said that at least four robbers left the home after sheriff’s deputies arrived, two of whom were caught following a search of the area.
Investigators recovered one gun believed to have been used in the home invasion robbery, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The names of the arrested suspects were not released at that time.
Prosecutors said Blount and White left the home as deputies arrived, but the two men were later apprehended with many of the victims’ items in their pockets.
It’s unclear whether investigators captured or identified any other suspects who fled the 42nd Avenue home that night.
On Monday, Blount and White remain in sheriff’s custody as they await their sentencing hearing scheduled for Jan. 16 in Sacramento Superior Court.
Prosecutors said Blount faces a maximum sentence of 259 years and eight months to life in prison, and White faces up to 40 years and eight months in prison.
