CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- An East St. Louis, Ill., man was sentenced to federal prison Tuesday for illegally possessing firearms stolen during a February 2017 burglary at Instapawn on Highway NN and in connection with an unrelated carjacking.
Germonde Brunner, 21, was sentenced to 48 months in prison on the felonies of possession of stolen firearms, aiding and abetting a carjacking and aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence by U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr., according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Sorrell.
Upon his release from prison, Brunner reportedly will be placed on three years of supervised released.
With his earlier plea, Brunner admitted on Feb. 26, 2017, a woman was sitting in the dark in her 2013 Mazda 3 in Clayton, Mo., listening to her car stereo when four men walked up to her locked car.
The four men were identified as Brunner and fellow East St. Louis residents, Arlandus Howard, Antywan Seawood and Norlando Jackson.
The men, according to the plea agreement signed by Brunner, had taken one of the last Metro trains that evening from East St. Louis to Clayton.
"The group of four men planned to roam various residential neighborhoods and break into parked cars to steal personal property," the plea agreement further said.
The men reportedly knew they would be unable to take another Metro train back to East St. Louis since the trains had stopped running after their arrival in Clayton.
"The group intended to take a car from the neighborhood, so they could get back to East St. Louis," the plea agreement further said.
Jackson and Seawood were both armed with handguns and reportedly intended to use those handguns, if needed, to steal a car.
"After stealing several items from cars that night, the group came across (the woman) sitting in her car" and decided to take it by force, the plea agreement said.
The men approached the car, with Seawood reportedly going up to the woman's passenger side window, while Jackson went to the driver's side window.
"The two men began tapping on the car windows with their handguns and counting backwards as if something was going to happen to (the woman) if she didn't open the door," the plea agreement further said.
When the woman opened the door, Jackson reportedly grabbed her arm, yanked her out of the car and threw her to the ground.
All four men reportedly entered the car, with Jackson driving, and drove back to East St. Louis.
The next day, the four men reportedly drove the stolen car to Poplar Bluff.
While there, the plea agreement said, they met up with Demarlon Richardson, who suggested they burglarize Instapawn that night.
The men reportedly drove the Mazda and another vehicle to Instapawn, a federally licensed seller of firearms, arriving late at night.
"The men entered the store at various times during the night, stealing a total of 63 firearms and other personal property," the plea agreement said. "The stolen firearms included firearms manufactured by Glock, Beretta, Kimber, Colt, Ruger, Smith & Wesson and Remington."
Ten of the stolen firearms would later be recovered from Richardson's home.
"Brunner assisted in this crime by entering the store and helping carry out some of the 63 firearms," the plea agreement further said. "The men divided the guns between them.
"Brunner received a small amount of money from the other men for his participation in the crime."
Richardson earlier pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for illegally possessing the firearms stolen from Instapawn.
Howard, according to Sorrell, was convicted by a federal jury in February of the firearms theft and the Clayton carjacking. The 21-year-old is set to be sentenced June 12.
On the morning Jackson's trial was set to begin in February, Sorrell said, Jackson pleaded guilty to the firearms theft, two carjackings and possession of a firearm in furtherance in a crime of violence. The 20-year-old is set to be sentenced May 29.
Seawood, 20, will be the final defendant to be sentence on July 31.
He earlier pleaded guilty to the felonies of aiding and abetting the possession of stolen firearms, aiding and abetting in a carjacking and aiding and abetting in the possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a crime of violence.
The maximum imprisonment for the theft of the firearms is 10 years and for carjacking is 15 years.
The maximum punishment for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence is life, said Sorrell, who indicated the charge carries a minimum of seven years and any sentence must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed against the defendant.