By admin 
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WNCN) — A Nash County man will serve more than a decade in federal prison after robbing multiple Rocky Mount convenience stores and gas stations on the same day, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said Tuesday.
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According to federal prosecutors, Trimaine Rshad Williams targeted at least five gas stations and convenience stores during a crime spree on March 20, 2024. He stole about $200 from a Rocky Mount Speedway after ordering everyone to the ground and pretending to have a gun, then took about $300 from a gas station on Wesleyan Boulevard while telling the clerks he was armed about five hours later.
During one incident, according to federal prosecutors, Williams pressed a hard object against a clerk’s back and threatened to shoot him, but the clerk realized Williams was not armed and forced him to leave the store. Williams then said he was going through a hard time, prompting the clerk to give him free food, but continued to commit robberies throughout the day.
That evening, according to federal prosecutors, Williams climbed over a counter, demanded money, and threatened to kill a clerk at a Dollar General. Shortly afterwards, he demanded money from a Bi-Rite Market in Sharpsburg while pretending to have a gun.
Williams was apprehended later that day by the Nash County Sheriff’s Office, according to federal prosecutors.
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Prosecutors said Williams pleaded guilty in federal court to interference with commerce by robbery this February.
Williams was sentenced by a judge to 15 and a half years in federal prison. Due to having five previous robbery convictions, he was sentenced as a career offender.
“Williams is exactly the kind of repeat offender who keeps terrorizing hard-working honest people of Eastern North Carolina,” U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said in a statement. “Even after five prior convictions, he spent an entire day hitting one store after another, scaring employees and terrifying customers who were just trying to work and live their lives the honest way.
“Thanks to great work of law enforcement, the people of Nash County won’t have to deal with Williams’ chaos any longer,” he continued in his statement. “Steal, gets steel.”
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