Show-Me State Times

Two men from the St. Louis area have received prison sentences for their involvement in the armed robbery of a mobile barber in Jennings in 2023.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk sentenced Keshaun Smith, 20, of Jennings, to 98 months in prison for charges of robbery and brandishing a firearm during the crime. Andrew Giles, his co-defendant, was sentenced on September 19 to 105 months in prison for the same offenses.

Court documents show that on May 8, 2023, a mobile barber traveled to a home on Garesche Avenue to cut Smith’s hair. Smith met the barber outside as he arrived in his red car. About fifteen minutes later, while the haircut was underway inside the house, Giles arrived and parked nearby carrying what appeared to be a pistol.

After approximately ninety minutes, as the haircut concluded, Giles and another co-defendant entered the room where Smith and the victim were located. Smith then picked up a firearm belonging to the barber. The three defendants robbed him of his possessions. During this incident, the victim was struck across his face and forehead area and suffered a frontal skull fracture. He managed to escape and called police after fleeing.

Smith was later seen walking along Garesche Avenue openly carrying what authorities believe was the stolen firearm.

The investigation involved the St. Louis County Police Department with support from both the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Matthew P. Mattis from the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section (VCRS) together with personnel from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.

"This case is part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative to prosecute violent crimes in St. Louis," officials stated in an announcement issued Wednesday morning by federal prosecutors in Missouri's Eastern District. "The Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri have partnered, along with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, to confront violent crimes committed by gang members and associates through enforcement of federal laws and use of federal resources to prosecute violent offenders and prevent further violence."