An Orlando man who pleaded guilty to carjacking an individual at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa will spend nearly 22 years behind bars.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced that 28-year-old Rodney Devon Jones has been sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison for carjacking and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, followed by a consecutive 7-year sentence for the firearm offense.
Jones had entered a guilty plea on September 5, 2023.
According to court records, on September 28, 2021, Jones and two other individuals visited the casino, which is located at 5223 Orient Road in Tampa. While the men were in the parking garage at the casino, they jumped out of a stolen Toyota sedan, pointed guns at a male victim, and stole his wallet and jewelry.
The trio demanded that the victim identify his vehicle and, after the victim pointed to an Alfa Romeo SUV in the garage, one of the men used the victim’s keys to open it. The man then drove off in the victim’s vehicle, while Jones and other man followed in the stolen Toyota.
Two days after the incident, officers from the Orlando Police Department arrested Jones after they found him in the stolen Toyota. During the arrest, the officers recovered a firearm near the sedan that had Jones’ DNA on it.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Seminole Police Department, with assistance from the Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher F. Murray.
In addition, this case is part of the Middle District of Florida’s Safe Trails Task Force, which is a partnership between the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the Seminole Police Department, and other federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies that work to combat the growth of crime in Indian Country.