Woman bought fake cop gear and sent victims’ addresses to accused robbers, feds say

A woman helped an accused armed robbery group by providing victims’ addresses and fake law enforcement gear to the members, federal officials say.

The 28-year-old woman from Tampa has been sentenced to five years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida announced Dec. 11.

McClatchy News could not immediately reach the woman’s attorney.

From December 2020 to April 2021, the group targeted and robbed people suspected of selling drugs in central Florida counties, officials said.

The woman was an insurance claims adjuster and used her access to the LexisNexis database to find the home addresses of the group’s potential targets, officials said.

The woman is accused of helping the group from January 2021 through March 2021, according to court records.

Robbery victims were “beaten, pistol whipped and shot,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said three of these incidents ended in shootings.

The defendant “voluntarily participated” in helping the group “accomplish its goal,” officials said.

She is accused of buying gear such as “sheriff’s vests, patches, lights and other items that she knew would be used by the conspirators to commit the armed robberies.”

The members are accused of pretending to be officers “by wearing black clothing, gloves, and masks — often with law enforcement insignia or vests with a ‘Sheriff’ patch affixed” during the robberies, authorities said.

The group used at least one vehicle equipped with blue lights, officials said, which is illegal in Florida for anyone other than law enforcement officers.

Five people accused of participating in the robberies were indicted in April 2022, prosecutors said.

Conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

This story was originally published December 11, 2023 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Woman bought fake cop gear and sent victims’ addresses to accused robbers, feds say."