ATLANTA — Quantavious Cedron Arnold and Ericka Brewster have been sentenced to federal prison for committing a two-week rampage that included robbing a bank and escaping in a car Arnold stole at gunpoint just two days earlier.
“Excellent coordination between the FBI and local law enforcement brought Arnold’s crime spree to an end,” said US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “This office will continue to target individuals like Arnold and Brewster who want to commit, support and benefit from violent crime in our community.”
“Both Arnold and Brewster have extensive violent criminal histories and have once again put innocent civilians at risk during their two-week crime spree,” said Keri Farley, the FBI’s Atlanta special agent in charge. “The ruling demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to working with our local law enforcement partners to try these repeat offenders at the federal level, where they face harsher sentences and no possibility of parole.”
“Protecting residents and visitors to the City of Atlanta is a priority for the Atlanta Police Department. The sentencing of Quantavious Cedron Arnold and Ericka Brewster sends a clear message to criminals that violent crime will not be tolerated in our city,” said Darin Schierbaum, Atlanta acting chief of police. “The Atlanta Police Department is proud of investigators’ efforts to bring these criminals to justice. The conviction of repeat offenders demonstrates the effectiveness of our partnerships with law enforcement, the dedication of members across agencies, and our commitment to solving and closing cases.”
According to US Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: On November 12, 2019, Arnold and two others committed a car theft outside of a supermarket in southwest Atlanta. Arnold threatened his victim with a semi-automatic pistol fitted with an extended magazine before he and his accomplices stole the man’s car.
Two days later, on November 14, 2019, Arnold used the stolen car to drive himself and his girlfriend Brewster to a bank branch in DeKalb County, Georgia. Arnold and Brewster entered the bank and waited in line until Arnold approached the counter, drew a gun, and threatened to kill people unless the teller handed over thousands of dollars in cash. After pocketing the money, Arnold and Brewster fled the bank and back into the stolen car, which they later abandoned.
A week later, an Atlanta police officer located and arrested Arnold in a wooded area down the block from the store where Arnold had stolen the car just ten days earlier. At the time of his arrest, Arnold had the gun used during the bank robbery, a dispensing amount of crack cocaine, and a digital scale. FBI agents later arrested Brewster.
Both Arnold and Brewster are convicted felons with extensive criminal records. Brewster’s history includes convictions for fraud, theft and counterfeiting. Arnold’s history includes repeated convictions for unlawful firearm possession, drug trafficking, and violent crimes such as aggravated assault, assault and burglary. Both defendants were serving multiple state suspended sentences while committing their federal crimes. Arnold had been sentenced to two of those suspended sentences less than four months before he committed the auto theft and bank robbery.
US District Judge Leigh Martin May sent the following sentence to the defendants:
- Quantavious Cedron Arnold, 30, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced on June 14, 2022 to 25 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and to pay $8,200.00 in damages. Arnold was convicted in court on January 14, 2022 of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute it, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Before trial, he pleaded guilty to counts of auto theft, armed bank robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and dual carrying of a firearm during a violent crime.
- Ericka Brewster, 31, of Jonesboro, Georgia, was sentenced on November 12, 2020 to four years and six months in prison followed by five years of supervised release and to pay $8,200 in damages. Brewster pleaded guilty to an armed bank robbery on November 6, 2020.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Atlanta Police Department, DeKalb County Police Department, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Theodore S. Hertzberg and Annalize K. Peters prosecuted the case.
This case was raised as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Consistent with the Attorney General’s mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgia’s PSN program focuses on prosecuting those who are most fueling the violence in our communities and supports and encourages partnerships between law enforcement agencies and schools, the faith community and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal behavior.
For more information, please contact the US Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The web address of the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
