Waianae man sentenced to prison for violent robbery spree
Apr. 5—A 32-year-old Waianae man will spend the next 10 years in federal prison after he was sentenced Monday in connection with a 2017 robbery spree where he and a partner used guns and threats to hold up a convenience store, gas station and bakery.
A 32-year-old Waianae man will spend the next 10 years in federal prison after he was sentenced Monday in connection with a 2017 robbery spree where he and a partner used guns and threats to hold up a convenience store, gas station and bakery.
Lokela Larson Jr. engaged in a "violent crime spree—robbing three different businesses at gunpoint within a 24-hour period, " according to federal prosecutors.
He entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Dec. 28 to plead guilty to three counts of robbery.
Larson worked with a "violent accomplice " who fired a gun during the robberies, authorities said. Larson will serve three years of supervised release after he gets out of prison. He also was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8, 050 and to pay a $300 special assessment.
He was facing up to 20 years in prison for each robbery charge.
Chief U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson sentenced Larson to 10 years for each count, to run concurrently. Larson's federal sentence will run consecutively to whatever Larson might get following adjudication of state robbery and firearm charges from 2014 and state drug and gun charges from 2017, "each of which involves different underlying conduct, " according to federal court records.
In a letter to Watson filed March 28, Larson wrote that he would like to "sincerely apologize " to the victims, and that being imprisoned for the past five years made him empathetic to the pain that he inflicted on his victims.
"I am ashamed of my actions and I am truly sorry for what I put these people through. I hope one day they can forgive me for my actions, " wrote Larson. "I not only want to be the best I can be but I want to grow. Not just for my family and kids but also myself and others around me. Your honor, I know I can be a pillar in my family and community."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara D. Ayabe, who prosecuted the case for the government, and Larson's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Sharron I. Rancourt, did not immediately reply to Honolulu Star-Advertiser requests for comment.
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Oct. 4, 2017, Larson—wearing a red bandanna over his face, a dark-colored baseball cap and armed with a silver Colt King Cobra.357 magnum—and his accomplice, who had a black handgun, entered Waianae Market Express Store on Farrington Highway and demanded money.
The accomplice fired a shot into a stack of papers next to where the store owner was crouching. Larson trained his weapon on a male employee while he walked into the store office. They left with $700 in cash and the owner's iPhone and credit cards that they took from her purse.
Closure of the store in the aftermath of the robbery cost the business between $4, 000 and $5, 000, according to the plea agreement.
At 8 p.m. that night, with a dark-colored cloth or shirt wrapped around his head to conceal his face, Larson walked into the Fastop Nanakuli with his accomplice and demanded money. The accomplice fired a round into a file cabinet near an employee before they both went over the counter, pointed their weapons and demanded both cash register trays.
The duo made off with $400, and the closure of the gas station cost the business about $2, 000 in fuel sales. Evidence specialists with the Honolulu Police Department were able to recover Larson's fingerprints from the store counter.
At 6 a.m. Oct. 5, 2017, the pair walked into Mike's Bake Shop, pointed their guns at the workers and demanded money. Larson walked up to the glass display case and pointed his gun at an employee. Larson's accomplice took $350 in cash while Larson stole four cartons of cigarettes and 10 lighters.
The bakery closed for about four hours after the incident, costing the owners about $2, 000, according to court records.
On Oct. 20, 2017, Honolulu police pulled over a car matching the description of a vehicle used in the robbery spree. Officers found Larson sitting in the front seat with his.357 wrapped up in the red bandanna he used during the robberies.
In a sentencing memorandum filed March 28, Rancourt described Larson as a man who "has spent nearly one-third of his life either homeless or in the prison system " who came of age under the "strains of poverty."
His parents separated when he was young, and his mother struggled with substance abuse while his father was in and out of a prison. Larson's stepfather allegedly beat him and sexually assaulted his sisters, according to Rancourt's memo.
Larson battled substance abuse, tried rehabilitation programs but relapsed and attempted suicide in 2016.
"Lokela did not receive substantive follow-up treatment and care. Less than a year later, he committed the instant offenses. Clearly, his mental health issues and drug dependency factored into his poor decision making and criminal actions, " wrote Rancourt. "Lokela has not lost hope himself. He looks forward to what the future brings, and with counseling and support he is confident he can maintain a law-abiding life."
