A Downtown Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after authorities said he carried out three gunpoint robberies across the neighborhood in just four days.
Jaquan Smith-Mack, 34, was sentenced Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court to 13 years behind bars followed by five years of post-release supervision. He pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery in June, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said the robbery spree began Sept. 27, 2024, near Navy Street and Park Avenue, where Smith-Mack allegedly approached a victim with a gun visible in his waistband and demanded, “Run your pockets.”
The victim handed over his AirPods and wallet, which contained cash and credit cards. Smith-Mack also took the victim’s glasses, according to prosecutors. Investigators later determined that Smith-Mack tried to use one of the stolen credit cards at a liquor store.
Two days later, prosecutors said, Smith-Mack targeted an Uber Eats delivery driver at an apartment building on Monument Walk in Fort Greene.
Smith-Mack allegedly pointed a gun at the driver’s stomach and demanded the keys to his moped, warning, “If you don’t give me the key, I will shoot you.”
After initially leaving, Smith-Mack returned and demanded the driver’s phone, according to the DA’s office. When the driver refused, Smith-Mack allegedly shoved him to the ground, grabbed the phone and rode away on the stolen moped.
The third robbery happened the next day at a bus stop on DeKalb Avenue in Clinton Hill, prosecutors said.
According to the investigation, Smith-Mack approached the victim after getting off a moped, displayed a gun and said, “Don’t move, if you listen to me, I won’t hurt you.” The victim handed over about $15.
The string of robberies came to an end hours later when NYPD officers spotted Smith-Mack riding a moped without a helmet or license plate and running red lights in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to prosecutors.
When officers attempted to pull him over, Smith-Mack allegedly drove onto the sidewalk before falling from the moped and running away. Prosecutors said he tripped and fell again, then threw a loaded firearm.
Officers recovered the gun underneath a vehicle near where Smith-Mack was apprehended, according to the DA’s office.
The moped was later identified by the Fort Greene delivery driver as the same vehicle that had been taken during the Sept. 29 robbery, prosecutors said.
“This defendant committed brazen gunpoint robberies three times over a span of just a few days, terrifying a community,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “With today’s sentence he is being held accountable and facing the consequences of his criminal actions.”
The sentencing comes as Brooklyn continues to see declines in violent crime, with Gonzalez’s office emphasizing a focus on repeat and violent offenders.
“With homicides and shootings at a record low in Brooklyn, we will continue to focus our resources on the drivers of crime to continue our progress improving neighborhood safety,” he said.
