CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — A Sikeston man was sentenced on Monday to nearly eight years in prison for the January robbery of a Sikeston fast food restaurant.
Byron Jones, 20, was sentenced to 94 months imprisonment on one felony count of Interference With Commerce by Robbery and one felony count of Brandishing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He appeared before United States District Judge E. Richard Weber.
At his plea on July 16, Jones admitted that on Jan. 17 at around 10:45 p.m., he entered a Sikeston Burger King restaurant, wearing a blue bandana over his face and pointing a handgun at store employees. Jones instructed the store manager to give him the money from a cash register and the office safe. Jones put the cash in a bag and left the store. Store employees reported the robbery to the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. A total of $2,171.50 was taken during the robbery.
Officers reviewed the store's outside security video and determined that Jones left the store area in a 2003 Mitsubishi with a license plate registered to Jones. Officers located that vehicle in Sikeston. They found a Vzor, 7.65 mm caliber pistol on the ground near the car, loaded with ammunition. That firearm had been previously reported stolen. The car was towed by officers and searched. They found a plastic bag containing $2,147.82 in the bag.
Jones came to the police station in Sikeston to check about his car. Officers interviewed Jones, who admitted that he was the person who robbed the Burger King restaurant as described above.
This case was investigated by the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. Assistant United States Attorney Keith D. Sorrell handled the prosecution for the Government.