Oakland: High-rolling Ghost Town robbery crew member gets 70 months in prison

OAKLAND An East Bay man who joined a robbery crew that raked in hundreds of thousands in jewelry cash and marijuana has been sentenced to five years and months behind bars court records show Darrin Hutchinson is the latest member of a West Oakland robbery crew to face federal prison behind a spree of robberies culminating with an extravagant birthday party where crew members flashed cash and stolen jewelry out in the open Hutchinson pleaded guilty to conspiracy and robbery charges and is currently housed at FTC Mendota a medium-security federal prison near Fresno records show The crew was comprised of members of the Ghost Town gang which is based in West Oakland and has existed for decades according to prosecutors U S District Judge Araceli Mart nez-Olgu n sentenced Hutchinson on Oct court records show Hutchinson penned a handwritten letter to the court from jail in which he apologized to the family of a jeweler he robbed as well as his own family He announced that thanks to a vocational effort at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin he ll have access to a job when he gets out which he announced is a blessing So in contemporary times I Darrin Hutchinson ask you to have mercy and grace on me I am asking for a chance to prove my change change to myself my family and society and to you also Your Honor Hutchinson wrote He commented his past crimes represent the person I once was A defense sentencing memo says Hutchinson has endured several personal tragedies including the loss of an infant sister to SIDS a brother who was gunned down in a still-unsolved homicide in the early s and his brother Demouria Hogg being shot and killed by Oakland police as he slept in a car in Firefighters spotted Hogg asleep in a BMW a scarce blocks away from Lake Merritt on Lake Park Avenue and called police because there was a gun on the visitor seat Hogg s parents later sued the city and received a million settlement Prosecutors requested for a -month sentence writing in court filings that Hutchinson has three prior felony convictions and after serving a sentence in each one within a short time he committed a new offense typically one involving violence His gang membership was reportedly established by a tattoo on his chest featuring cartoonish ghosts and the phrase Ghost Town The crew s robberies included one at a coin store in March with a loss of an August cannabis dispensary holdup in Oakland with a loss of and a San Pablo jewelry store robbery with estimated losses of up to bureaucrats noted The jewelry store robbery was very violent with casualties being held at gunpoint or running away while screaming in terror and store customers including a young child suddenly accosted at gunpoint two assistant U S attorneys wrote in a sentencing brief At the end of the crew gathered to celebrate the birthday of Aramiya Burrell who is now one of Hutchinson s co-defendants and a great number of robbery crew members wore stolen jewelry at the event In a video of the event another co-defendant Jakari Jenkins can be seen wearing a diamond necklace referencing a slain Ghost Town member eight bejeweled rings and donning a golden watch on his right hand while fanning out huge swaths of bills for the camera Another man wearing a golden watch and a chain depicting an assault rifle says they were making history according to the footage which is contained in the court file They ain t never seen Ghost Town like this he says as Jenkins nods in approval We the richest generation Hutchinson advertised stolen jewelry for sale on Instagram prosecutors added in their sentencing brief But they conceded there is hope for Hutchinson s future and that his situation is not without mitigation He experienced a arduous upbringing during which he experienced violence both directly and in his circumstances During his incarceration to his credit Mr Hutchinson has completed a construction program that will provide him with marketable skills in the labor region the prosecution memo says Eventually to his further credit Mr Hutchinson has admitted his conduct and accepted responsibility for it