Chicago man pleads guilty to Wheaton robbery, gets 28 years

A Chicago man was sentenced on Wednesday to 28 years in prison for his role in a May 2022 T-Mobile store robbery, officials said.

Imari Paxton, 28, has been held in the DuPage County Jail since October 2022 and pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery with a firearm, a felony, on April 28, according to a news release from the DuPage County State’s Attorney.

Paxton was one of four people involved in the robbery of a T-Mobile store on Butterfield Road in Wheaton on May 20, 2022, according to the news release. The group entered the store at about 10 a.m. and held the three employees inside at gunpoint. They used the employees’ keys to access the store’s stock room and forced them to open two safes that held merchandise and cash. The group also used zip ties to restrain the employees during the robbery.

In total, they stole at least twenty cellphones, fifteen Apple watches, one tablet and about $500 in cash, the release said.

Marcus Melton, 32, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge as Paxton and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. Two other men, Brandon Melton, 33, and Darius Combs have been charged in the incident and their cases remain in progress.