Defendant sentenced for robbing eight businesses including seven Dollar Stores during a nine-day crime spree

ATLANTA - Wayne Patterson, who committed a string of eight armed robberies in the metro-Atlanta area, has been sentenced to federal prison.

“Patterson’s decision to rob these businesses at gunpoint placed employees’ and customers’ lives in danger,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.  “Cooperation among federal and local law enforcement officers ended Patterson’s robbery spree and ensured the lengthy prison sentence he received.”

“Patterson terrorized employees and customers at seven different businesses he robbed in a nine day period in 2018 across three counties,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Thanks to our partnerships with six different local law enforcement agencies we were able to stop him before someone got hurt or killed. Hopefully the victims of those robberies can take some solace with this sentencing.”

“The Covington Police appreciates the diligence of the employee to stay calm, cooperate with the robber, get an accurate tag number, and give details of the crimes to the responding officers. This great effort allowed CPD to locate and arrest the suspect thus ending his criminal activity,” said Stacey L. Cotton, Chief of the Covington Police Department.

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: Patterson robbed seven Family Dollar and Dollar General Stores in the metro-Atlanta area over nine days in July 2018. In each case, Patterson browsed in the store, selected an item to supposedly purchase, and then approached the cash register. Once at the register, Patterson brandished a handgun and demanded money, and then fled the store with whatever money the cashier gave him.

Approximately three weeks after committing the Family Dollar and Dollar General Store robberies, Patterson robbed a clothing store in Covington, Georgia, using the same tactic. On this occasion, however, an employee recorded the license plate of Patterson’s getaway car and provided that information to Covington Police who arrested Patterson shortly thereafter.

Wayne Patterson, 39, of Covington, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones to 20 years in prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release.  Patterson was convicted on June 19, 2019 after he pleaded guilty to eight counts of Hobbs Act robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bret R. Hobson prosecuted the case.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Covington Police Department, the Clayton County Police Department, the Riverdale Police Department, the Cobb County Police Department, the Atlanta Police Department, and the Conyers Police Department investigated the case.

This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). In keeping with the Attorney General’s mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgia’s PSN program focuses on prosecuting those individuals who most significantly drive violence in our communities, and supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement and schools, the faith community, and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal conduct.