Four men who participated in the “pistol-whip” robbery series in Hillcrest, North Park, and elsewhere were sentenced Sept. 19 to terms ranging from 11 to six years in prison.
The series was noted for four victims being hit over the head with a gun and other victims being ordered at gunpoint to lay prone on the ground while their personal items such as wallets and cell phones were taken.
Joseph Ragland, 27, received 11 years in prison, and Jamarious Porche, 24, and Michael McGinnis, 19, were both sentenced to 10 years and eight months. Askia Muhamad Toure, 21, received six years and eight months from San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeff Fraser, who gave all four men credit for serving 604 days in jail.
Ragland was ordered to pay $7,995 to the state victims’ compensation fund while Porche and McGinnis were ordered to pay $6,929. Toure, who was involved in a smaller number of robberies, was ordered to pay $866 to the fund which assisted the victims.
The four men pleaded guilty to all charges of robbery, conspiracy and receiving stolen property in nine incidents in which 14 people were accosted, but not every defendant participated in each hold-up. One or two robbers approached victims in a series that began March 30, 2013, and ended with their arrests on April 12, 2013.
Other victims were robbed near San Diego State University, Rolando, University Heights, UCSD, and Mission Village. One victim lost a computer and another victim lost an iPod, but most of the property was recovered by San Diego Police along with victims’ identification.
