Seattle man gets 17 years for recruiting minors to carry out armed robbery spree that left dispensary worker dead

Michael Keylon Miller-Jimerson, 26, was sentenced Friday in US District Court in Seattle after pleading guilty in February to armed bank robbery, robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery. Federal prosecutors said Miller-Jimerson played a leadership role in a violent crime spree between December 2021 and June 2022 in which juveniles were sent into businesses armed with guns while he and another adult helped select targets and served as getaway drivers.

One of those robberies ended with a Tacoma marijuana dispensary employee being shot and killed by a 15-year-old member of the robbery crew.

“You and others went on a violent crime spree, terrorizing the community for your own personal gain,” US District Judge Lauren King told Miller-Jimerson at sentencing. “You used juveniles… to commit the most dangerous part of the offenses. And you didn’t stop after a man lost his life.”

According to federal prosecutors, Miller-Jimerson and co-conspirators Shannon Hartfield and Danesxy Ortega robbed the Greenworks and Greenfire marijuana dispensaries in Seattle on Christmas Eve 2021, with Miller-Jimerson serving as the getaway driver during the armed “take-over style” robberies.

More dispensary robberies followed, with prosecutors saying Miller-Jimerson and Hartfield selected targets, recruited juveniles, and used them to carry out the armed robberies.

On Jan. 21, 2022, the group robbed Zips Dispensary in Tacoma. On March 11, Miller-Jimerson supplied a firearm to a juvenile used in robberies of Lucid Cannabis in Auburn and the West Seattle Dispensary. Eight days later, Miller-Jimerson armed juveniles who robbed the Bakeree dispensary in Seattle, where one juvenile fired a shot into the air. The crew then traveled to Tacoma and targeted World of Weed. Miller-Jimerson waited outside as the getaway driver while juveniles entered the store. During the robbery, a 15-year-old co-conspirator shot and killed an employee.

Federal prosecutors said even the killing did not end the crime spree. Miller-Jimerson and Hartfield subsequently shifted from marijuana dispensaries to banks, again using juveniles to carry out the robberies. In June 2022, they sent juveniles into a Chase Bank branch in Seattle in an unsuccessful robbery attempt. The group then targeted Salal Credit Union, where armed robbers forced employees to unlock safes. The final robbery occurred June 17 at another Chase branch in Seattle.

“This defendant recruited juveniles to do his dirty work, perhaps in the mistaken belief that it would insulate him from criminal responsibility – clearly it did not,” First Assistant US Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said. “His actions caused terror for store clerks and bank tellers and cost one young man his life.”

FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington said Miller-Jimerson and another adult “recruited vulnerable children, arming them, and training them to commit dangerous crimes” while sharing in tens of thousands of dollars in stolen cash.

“This sentencing sends a clear message: adults who exploit juveniles to act on their behalf will be targeted for federal prosecution,” Herrington said.

Assistant US Attorney Kristine Foerster wrote in seeking the 17-year sentence that Miller-Jimerson and Hartfield believed juveniles would be easier to control and would face lighter penalties if caught.

“During each robbery, Miller-Jimerson knew that his accomplices were armed with firearms and that they intended to use them,” Foerster wrote. “And even after a man lost his life during one of these robberies, Miller-Jimerson didn’t stop.”

Hartfield was convicted in May of 17 federal felonies stemming from the armed dispensary and bank robbery scheme. Miller-Jimerson was also convicted in state court of second-degree murder in connection with the World of Weed killing and received a 15-year sentence in Pierce County Superior Court. His 17-year federal sentence will run concurrently with the state sentence.

King also imposed five years of supervised release following his prison term.

Addressing the victims at sentencing, King said the robberies caused lasting damage beyond the money and marijuana that were stolen. “Many of these individuals continue to cope with fear, anxiety, and the disruption to their lives caused by the defendants,” King said. “The impact of these crimes is likely to remain with the victims for years to come.”