A federal judge sentenced a D.C. woman to nearly 12 years in prison for co-leading a robbery crew that held up pharmacies and cellphone stores across four states.
Ashley Gause, 33, received 140 months in federal prison on Tuesday, Oct. 13, for her role directing a crew that targeted more than a dozen businesses in the District, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson also ordered three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
The sentence fell well below what prosecutors sought.
Federal prosecutors had requested 235 months. Judge Jackson's reasoning for the lower sentence was not detailed in the announcement.
According to court documents, Gause, also known as "Cray," and her co-conspirators robbed pharmacies and cellular retail stores across the mid-Atlantic region between May 9, 2020, and May 26, 2021. The crew stole approximately $300,000 in cash and prescription drugs, then resold the goods in the District.
According to court documents, many of the robberies involved crew members brandishing and pointing firearms at store employees. Gause was convicted of five offenses involving firearms.
Surveillance images cited in the announcement include footage from a Nov. 6, 2020, robbery of a T-Mobile store on D Street in Southeast Washington and a June 9, 2020, robbery of a T-Mobile in College Park, Maryland. Investigators also found a photo on Gause's cellphone of a black handgun with a yellow "switch," consistent with a firearm a co-defendant used during three Maryland robberies.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Gause and her crew "treated these pharmacies and cellphone stores as their own personal cash machines, garnering $300,000 in ill-gotten proceeds and prescription drugs, and leaving the store employees scarred for life."
A federal jury found Gause guilty on Oct. 28, 2025, after a six-week trial. She was convicted of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and eight individual robbery counts.
Five co-defendants, all from D.C., have also been sentenced. D'Marrell Mitchell, 36, received the longest term at 192 months. Floyd Neal, 32, got 157 months.
Terrance Barnham, 36, received 78 months. Ashawntea Henderson, 33, got 57 months. Glenn Dolford, 32, received 38 months to run alongside a 42-month D.C. Superior Court sentence for an aggregate 80-month term; Dolford is also serving a 22-year sentence for murder.
The FBI's Washington Field Office led the investigation with assistance from the Metropolitan Police Department and police departments in Alexandria, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Henrico County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County and other jurisdictions. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Levy is prosecuting the case.
Additional co-defendants are awaiting trial for their roles in the robberies.
