Trashawn Heard, a 29-year-old resident of Chicago, Illinois, has been sentenced to 121 months in prison following his guilty plea to charges of robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The sentence was handed down by United States District Court Judge Gretchen S. Lund, as announced by Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.
In addition to the prison term, Heard will undergo three years of supervised release. The incident leading to these charges occurred on July 25, 2022, when Heard entered a gas station in Hammond, Indiana. He threatened employees with a handgun equipped with an extended magazine and demanded money. While attempting to flee after obtaining the cash, he was shot in the shoulder and subsequently dropped both the money and the firearm before crashing his car while escaping. He was arrested at a hospital shortly thereafter.
At the time of this offense, Heard was on parole for three prior robbery convictions dating back to 2017.
The investigation into this case was conducted by the FBI/GRIT Task Force with support from the Hammond Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Toth prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence through collaboration between law enforcement agencies and communities. On May 26, 2021, the Department introduced a strategy focused on enhancing PSN's effectiveness through community trust-building, support for violence prevention organizations, strategic enforcement priorities, and result measurement.