A Burtonsville man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a pair of charges relating to the robbery of a food delivery man at gunpoint, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Tataw Ayuk-Arrey Obenson, 21, was charged with interference with interstate commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Obenson and co-defendant Wakeene William Graham, 23, of Silver Spring, admitted in plea agreements to robbing a delivery man after using a cellphone application to bring him to a nearby residence.
On April 22, 2018, Graham placed an order for food and directed the person to a residence within walking distance for him and Obenson, prosecutors said. The two went to the residence before the man arrived, with Obenson waiting out front and Graham hiding in a row of townhouses.
The delivery man arrived at 9:45 p.m., and as he gave the food to Obenson, Graham approached and pointed a pistol at him. Obenson and Graham robbed the man of his phone and around $170, then ran in different directions, discarding the phone in nearby woods, prosecutors said.
Obenson and Graham were arrested in late May 2018. Graham had a loaded semiautomatic pistol and a bag of ammunition. Detectives also searched Graham’s phone and found the food delivery app and the number used to place the order leading to the robbery, prosecutors said.
Graham was sentenced to 8 years and 8 months in federal prison.
Obenson is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 27. If the court accepts his plea agreement, he will be sentenced to seven years and one day in federal prison.
An attorney for Obenson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Charlie Wright can be reached at charlie.wright@moco360.media
