Photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World
The T-Mobile store at 4801 Bauer Farm Drive is pictured on February 3, 2023.
Two people have been sentenced to prison in federal court in connection with a 2022 armed robbery of a cell phone store in Lawrence in which store employees were bound with duct tape and held at gunpoint while the robbers stole more than $50,000 worth of merchandise.
Darien Khalil Chambers, 31, and Iveth Moreno, 23, pleaded guilty to one count each of obstruction of commerce by robbery and one count of use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence in connection with the April 2, 2022, robbery at the T-Mobile store at 4801 Bauer Farm Drive. Moreno pleaded guilty to the charges in February, while Chambers entered his guilty plea in July. Both are from the Chicago area.
Photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
Darien K. Chambers
Chambers was sentenced to a total of 98 months, or just over eight years, in prison, while Moreno was sentenced to 47 months, or nearly four years, according to court records. Both were ordered to pay a combined $51,744 in restitution to cover the cost of the stolen goods.
Before sentencing, Moreno argued in a motion for a reduced sentence that she did not know Chambers was planning to rob the store. She claimed that Chambers was her supervisor at a Dollar Tree in Chicago and that she and Chambers had a romantic relationship.
“By promising a good time, Chambers exploited his position with Moreno, and although she voluntarily traveled with Chambers, she did not know the full details or purpose of the trip,” Moreno’s attorney Braden Perry wrote in the motion.
Chambers’ attorney, Kirk Redmond, disputed that claim in Chambers’ own motion for a reduced sentence. In text messages Chambers and Moreno exchanged before the robbery, Moreno sent Chambers a copy of her recently acquired gun license and the two then discussed which stores to rob. Moreno suggested a Dollar Tree because “we know how it works. So it would be easy,” the motion states.
Moreno had asked the court not to sentence her to the minimum sentence for the weapons offense, which is 84 months or seven years in prison. The court partially granted the request and reduced the weapons sentence by 50 months. However, the reasons for the deviation from the request are under seal and cannot be viewed.
Chambers asked for a reduced sentence of 84 months and one day. His request included more than a dozen letters from friends and family members who claimed Chambers’ actions did not reflect his character. Many of the letters noted that Chambers holds a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Krug asked for Chambers to be sentenced to 121 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, saying the crime was more than just a “spontaneous offense of opportunity” and that Chambers carefully planned the robbery. Prosecutors alleged Chambers planned the robbery the same night KU basketball played Villanova during the Final Four tournament.
“(Chambers) likely knew there would be reduced customer activity at the T-Mobile store and minimal police presence in the area,” Krug wrote in response to Chambers’ motion.
In the Chambers case, the court also deviated from the sentencing guidelines, but as in the Moreno case, the reasons for the verdict are not available to the public.
Chambers and Moreno are believed to have traveled from Illinois to Lawrence to rob the T-Mobile store. Lawrence police investigated the incident and Chambers was initially charged in Douglas County District Court with two counts of aggravated robbery with a handgun and two counts of kidnapping until the case was transferred to federal court, the Journal-World reported.
According to an affidavit supporting Chambers’ arrest, Chambers and Moreno had parked near the cell phone store, where police found surveillance video showing Chambers covering the license plate of the white Subaru with duct tape before the two drove to the cell phone store.
There, Chambers and Moreno, armed with pistols and dressed head to toe in black, entered the store and ordered two employees into the back room of the store, where they duct taped the employees to chairs, the affidavit states.
Chambers then demanded that employees give him the code to the safe, and employees complied. Chambers then walked to the front of the store and took cash from the store register and told Moreno to “crack whoever moves first,” the affidavit states.
Chambers and Moreno then taped the employees’ mouths shut and left the store with bags full of cell phones and other goods.
“I’m sure someone will come to pick you up,” Chambers told employees as he left, the affidavit states.
Two witnesses who were parked nearby saw Chambers and Moreno leave the store and called 911. An officer soon arrived to free the employees. Police were later able to track the Subaru’s route to the store and back using traffic cameras around the city. They were then able to trace the car back to Chambers and arrest him when he was next seen in Lawrence.
