LI 'Home-Invasion Robbery Crew' Leader Gets 8 More Years In Prison

GREAT NECK, NY — The organizer of an armed "home-invasion robbery crew" was already serving two, 20-year sentences in prison for a double homicide, but a judge added another eight years this week, federal prosecutors said.

Lamonte Johnson, 54, was the lead organizer of a robbery crew that targeted Chinese-American victims in Queens, Long Island and New Jersey, a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said.

Johnson, while behind bars, connected four men, including his half-brother and a former inmate, who then committed multiple armed home robberies across two states, prosecutors detailed.

In 2019, three men who have since pleaded guilty to crimes related to the robbery spree invaded a home in Little Neck, Queens, where they held a group of women and children at gunpoint, sexually assaulting one of the women.

Corey Mobley, 52, Brandon Daniels, 28, and John Martin, 50, then took $10,000 in cash from the home, according to prosecutors and multiple 2019 news reports.

The three Brooklyn men were given Chinese-American victims to target by co-conspirator Shi Zhen Lin, of Queens, who previously met Johnson in prison.

“Lamonte Johnson was not deterred by prison walls from organizing armed home-invasion robberies, but today’s sentence ensures he has been held accountable for these vicious crimes, and that there is justice for his victims,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.

Johnson, from Auburn, New York, was convicted on federal robbery charges for his role as leader of the robbery ring in May 2022.