Joshua Jermaine Durante will spend 30.5 years in federal prison for robberies he committed in September of 2018.

United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced the 23-year-old Roanoke Rapids man today in Raleigh.

The 366-month term is based on charges of interference with commerce by robbery, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

The charges include the September 17, 2018, robbery of the Family Dollar Store in Weldon and the September 26 robbery of the same year at Presto, in which a clerk was shot.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said in a press statement that during the Family Dollar robbery Durante and a juvenile brandished firearms and pistol-whipped the clerk while demanding money. The clerk complied and the two fled the store.

In the Presto robbery in Roanoke Rapids, Durante and the juvenile also entered the store.

After the clerk had trouble opening the safe at Durante’s command, Durante shot the employee in the stomach. The clerk sustained life-threatening injuries but survived.

A few days later, law enforcement in Gaston located Durante and the juvenile who ran from police leading them on a high-speed chase.  

During the chase, Durante drove his car down railroad tracks which ultimately disabled his car.  He and the juvenile then fled from the car on foot but were captured by law enforcement after a short foot chase. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Weldon Police Department, the Roanoke Rapids Police Department, and the Gaston Police Department  investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Dodson  prosecuted the case.