A St. Louis man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after admitting to a series of robberies and an attempted robbery at businesses across the city. U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig handed down the sentence on Monday.
Jermel Rush, 43, pleaded guilty in June to seven counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery, and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence. As part of his plea agreement, Rush acknowledged carrying out eight incidents between June and November 2018.
According to court documents, Rush used an Airsoft gun that resembled a handgun during several robberies. On June 21, 2018, he robbed a retail store on Natural Bridge Road by grabbing a clerk by the neck and forcing her to open the cash register. On July 6, he held employees at gunpoint at a grocery store on Page Avenue before stealing cash.
On October 9, Rush tried but failed to rob another retail store on North Grand Boulevard by threatening employees with the Airsoft revolver and threatening to kill the manager if they did not comply. Later that month, he grabbed an assistant manager’s neck and used the same weapon to rob a store on Enright Avenue, again making threats against staff.
Rush continued his spree by robbing additional stores for cash and merchandise over the following weeks. In some cases, he was armed with what appeared to be real firearms. On November 14 and 15, Rush committed two more robberies while armed with a handgun—one at a cell phone store on Delmar Boulevard and another at a retail location on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive where he threatened staff: “…blow your head off, hurry up.”
When officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department arrested Rush after these incidents, they found him in possession of a .40 caliber handgun matching descriptions from recent robberies.
In addition to his prison term, Judge Fleissig ordered Rush to pay $4,237 in restitution to affected businesses.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Torrie J. Schneider prosecuted.
