Gun-toting Columbia area spree store robber gets 49 years in federal prison

A gun-toting serial robber who tormented victims and tossed his disguises away as he fled from Columbia area stores he had just held up was sentenced Tuesday to 49 years in federal prison.

The sentence, by U.S. Judge Mary Geiger Lewis, was one of the longest handed down in Columbia’s federal courts in recent years.

Deveon Belk, 37, had been on a robbery spree of up to two dozen Columbia area stores, terrorizing clerks and store employees in late 2020. He was finally stopped by a joint federal-state-local law enforcement task force that used DNA to identify him and track him down. Some of the DNA came from disguises he threw away after fleeing from the stores.

The cases were difficult to crack because Belk robbed different kinds of stores in different law enforcement jurisdictions in Lexington and Richland counties. He also struck at different times of the day and evening. He would usually stand in line, ask for candy or cigarettes, pull a gun and demand money.

Then he would exit the store, walk slowly away, and discard his holdup clothes. Once well away from the heist, he would get into a beat-up black Saturn IOS and drive away, testified FBI agent Brandon Lackey in federal court at Belk’s trial last year. Discarded clothes included knit caps, jackets and T-shirts.

Federal prosecutors had taken their strongest seven cases to trial last November and secured seven convictions for various crimes including robbery affecting interstate commerce and brandishing a firearm during a robbery.

Although Belk never fired his pistol, he terrorized store employees, and in some cases he stuck his pistol’s barrel against the head or torso of an unyielding clerk and cocked the gun, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Daniels said Tuesday in court. The gun was a Ruger Mark II 9 millimeter, according to evidence.

“One clerk showed great courage. She said, ‘You don’t want to do this — you’re on video, you’re going to get caught,” Daniels said. “In response, he pulled the hammer back.”

Belk’s 22 victims in the seven robberies included a 15-year-old clerk at a Wendy’s starting her first job and a Columbia College student working her way through college, Daniels told the judge.

Daniels also read aloud a letter from one victim, which said in part that the woman had been having panic attacks, trouble eating and sleeping and replaying the incident in her head. “You made my life a living hell. I’ve been traumatized because of you. I hope you get to know God while you’re in prison, and I hope you get your life together.”

For the victims, the 49-year sentence was justified not only because of the robberies themselves, but also because of the trauma inflicted and the massive effort by law enforcement to investigate and prosecute the cases, Daniels said.

In all, Belk robbed $2,723 from the seven stores, which in addition to a Wendy’s included a CVS, three Dollar Generals, a Family Dollar and an SKS Mart. The most Belk stole in any one robbery was $582.

Judge Lewis told Belk she knew the sentence was long but he deserved it.

“It’s a stiff sentence, no question about it... but I think it’s appropriate,” she told him.

Asked by Lewis if he had anything to say before sentencing, Belk — a stocky man of medium height and a shaved head who wore ankle and belly chains over his jail jump suit — leaned back in a chair and waved a hand dismissively.

Belk’s attorney, Victor Li, said he knew that his client’s sentences were required to be served consecutively but, “For a 37-year-old man to get 49 years, that is like a life sentence.” Belk will be 86 when he leaves prison, Li said.

Under federal law, brandishing a firearm during a crime carries a mandatory seven-year sentence that must be served consecutively to other like convictions. At his November trial, Belk had been convicted of seven such offenses, each of which carried a seven-year term to be served consecutively, meaning he had a minimum 49-year sentence to serve.

Belk had turned down a prosecutor’s offer to only get about 24 years if he would agree to plead guilty. He had been in trouble with law enforcement since the age of 15. His prior convictions included armed robbery, domestic violence, failure to stop for a blue light and car theft, Daniels told the judge. While awaiting trial in jail, he has recently been charged with sexual assault, Daniels said.

“What we see from Mr. Belk is violence — a total disregard for victims’ rights,” Daniels said.

As the spate robberies swept the Columbia area in late 2020, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott suggested bringing the FBI in to coordinate the cases, which were happening in multiple law enforcement jurisdictions — Richland County, Lexington County, Columbia, Cayce and Irmo.

The cases were ultimately transferred to federal jurisdiction so they could be tried together. Had the cases been tried separately in state court, there would have been multiple trials in at least Lexington and Richland counties.

One victim who spoke to reporters after the hearing said that during his robbery, Belk had cocked his gun on him. The 49-year sentence had brought him a measure of peace, he said.

“When he gets out of prison, he’ll be old and decrepit — he can’t rob anybody any more,” said Maurice, 33, a manager at one of the stores who didn’t want his last name used.

Besides Daniels, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariyana Gore and Lamar Fyall prosecuted the case.

Lott, Richland County’s sheriff, said he was pleased with how the case turned out. “Belk is an example of justice when agencies, federal and local, work together. Our goal is to get the bad guys off the streets the longest.”