Houston TX January 14, 2023 A man employed at a security job at a downtown Houston nightclub has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for robbing the club and its employees at gunpoint in 2019. The U.S. Department of Justice said Hakeem Alexander Coles used a false identity to land a security job at Clé Nightclub, located on Main Street near Fannin Street. On Sept. 7, 2019, after only being employed at the club for two weeks, he robbed employees with a gun and demanded $20,000 in cash after the business closed for the night, the DOJ said. Employees even said he shot at them as he got away. Coles’ was arrested in Louisiana for the robbery. He had a loaded gun on him and the false identification he used to get the job at Clé, the DOJ said. During Coles’ trial, the jury heard from witnesses who described the robbery. The jury also got information on how Coles committed another robbery in Minneapolis three weeks before the Clé robbery. In the Minneapolis case, Coles was also working as a security guard at a bar and robbed its employees after the bar closed for the night. Coles pleaded guilty to the Minneapolis case in 2020 and received 17 years in federal prison. The defense tried to convince the jury that Coles did not commit the Clé robbery but their actions failed and he was found guilty on June 6, 2022, for interference with commerce by robbery and discharging a firearm. Coles received 40 years in prison for the Clé robbery, which will be served consecutively to the 17-year prison sentence he received in Minneapolis.
Houston TX January 14, 2023 A man employed at a security job at a downtown Houston nightclub has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for robbing the club and its employees at gunpoint in 2019.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Hakeem Alexander Coles used a false identity to land a security job at Clé Nightclub, located on Main Street near Fannin Street.
On Sept. 7, 2019, after only being employed at the club for two weeks, he robbed employees with a gun and demanded $20,000 in cash after the business closed for the night, the DOJ said. Employees even said he shot at them as he got away.
Coles’ was arrested in Louisiana for the robbery. He had a loaded gun on him and the false identification he used to get the job at Clé, the DOJ said.
During Coles’ trial, the jury heard from witnesses who described the robbery.
The jury also got information on how Coles committed another robbery in Minneapolis three weeks before the Clé robbery. In the Minneapolis case, Coles was also working as a security guard at a bar and robbed its employees after the bar closed for the night. Coles pleaded guilty to the Minneapolis case in 2020 and received 17 years in federal prison.
The defense tried to convince the jury that Coles did not commit the Clé robbery but their actions failed and he was found guilty on June 6, 2022, for interference with commerce by robbery and discharging a firearm.
Coles received 40 years in prison for the Clé robbery, which will be served consecutively to the 17-year prison sentence he received in Minneapolis.
