Man Who Terrorized Asian-Owned Businesses Gets Life In Prison

ATLANTA — A man who robbed and terrorized nine Asian-owned businesses throughout metro Atlanta was sentenced Wednesday to life in federal prison.

Dravion Sanchez Ware, 25, of Atlanta received multiple life terms for the 2017 armed robberies, in which he frequently pistol-whipped innocent victims, sending at least one man to the hospital. Ware also shot three women, one of whom was kneeling on the floor face down at the time. All three women survived.

Ware and his partner, Tabyron Rashad Smith, 26, of Atlanta, were convicted in 2019. Smith was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Ware and Smith targeted Gwinnett County Asian-owned businesses in Duluth and Norcross. They also robbed Asian-owned businesses in Atlanta, Doraville, Stone Mountain and Roswell.

“For over a month, these gang members targeted and terrorized the Asian business community,” said Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Vic Reynolds in a statement Wednesday. “This sentence is evidence that this behavior will not be tolerated in the state of Georgia.”

The case, brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, was investigated by the FBI and the GBI, as well as police departments in Atlanta, Doraville, Roswell, Sandy Springs, and Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

Read the statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.