A 27-year old man was convicted this week by a grand jury on charges stemming from a string of violent crimes he committed in Murfreesboro and Franklin in 2020, according to the Middle District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Joshua Hallmon of Murfreesboro was charged by a federal grand jury in May 2021 with multiple counts of Hobbs Act robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Hallmon (pictured above) was also charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Co-defendants Charles Melvin Walker and Walter Lee Williams were also charged along with Hallmon for roles in the crime spree.
The three men committed armed robberies at two gas stations – Twice Daily and Mapco – in Murfreesboro on July 6 and July 23, 2020.
The men then committed an armed carjacking and kidnapping in Murfreesboro, attempted to commit a second armed carjacking in Franklin, and committed a third armed carjacking and kidnapping in Murfreesboro in which Williams shot the victim in the face on the night of July 26-27, 2020.
Hallmon was found guilty on all 12 counts he faced for the string of violent crimes. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 34 years, and up to life, in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office notes. There is no parole in the federal system.
All three defendants will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson later this year.
“As a result of today’s convictions, this violent criminal will be spending over three decades in federal prison,” U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis said in a statement. “I commend the outstanding work done in this case by our prosecutors and our state and federal law enforcement partners to protect our community from violent crime.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
