SHERMAN, Texas — A second man has been sent to prison in connection with a string violent robberies of donut shop owners and operators in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Kendrick Donnell Jones, Jr., 24, from Grand Prairie, was sentenced to serve 262 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery; aiding and abetting; conspiracy to kidnap; and using a firearm during a crime of violence.
His accomplice, Tony Sullivan, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for his role in the robberies last month.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas said the FBI began investigating the home invasion-type robberies between April and December 2019. These occurred before shopkeepers left for work, either late at night or very early in the morning.
Jones and Sullivan would reportedly beat the victims with baseball bats and bind them with duct tape while holding them at gunpoint, officials said. Police connected at least nine robberies to the crime spree.
Officials said police in Euless received a call on July 8, 2019, from a witness reporting an individual stumbling down the street with his hands bound by tape. The victim was bleeding from the head and was taken to the hospital. He told police he had returned home from his Dallas donut shop to find Jones and Sullivan in his home, and that they bound and beat him and ordered him to open a safe.
Officials said the two left with the victim's cellphone, car keys and about $9,500 from the safe, as well as $900 from his wallet.
Surveillance footage and cellphone data was used to determine Jones took part in the attack, officials said.
