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By LANCE MARTIN

rrspin.com

RALEIGH – One of the two men indicted earlier this year on federal armed robbery charges waived his rights here Wednesday to a detention hearing.

Jacob Austin Evans, age 23 of Gates County, appeared before Federal Magistrate Judge James E. Gates in Raleigh via video conference with his counsel.

The court accepted his waiver and the government’s motion for detention.

Arraignment is set for the June 15 term of court in Raleigh before District Judge James C. Dever III.

Evans and Jequayves Britt, 19, of Sharpsburg were named in March in a 24-count federal indictment which charges them in a string of armed robberies across six counties last July.

The indictments reflect 12 counts of armed robbery and 12 counts of use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The indictment includes charges related to the July 16, 2019, armed robbery of The Store Next Door on Fifth Street in Roanoke Rapids. There, a person entered the store wearing a mask and showed a weapon. An undisclosed amount of money was taken. There were no injuries.

Besides the Roanoke Rapids robbery, the pair were reportedly involved the following heists:

Snow Hill Speedway on July 21, 2019

Greenville Sheetz on July 21, 2019

Greenville Circle K on July 21, 2019

Pine Tops Dollar General on July 18, 2019

Sharpsburg Dollar General on July 18, 2019

Rocky Mount Kangaroo Express on July 16, 2019

Rocky Mount Speedway on July 14, 2019

Wilson City Gas and Convenience Store on July 14, 2019

Wilson S&J Mart on July 14, 2019

Rocky Mount Fuel Doc on July 12, 2019

Rocky Mount Kangaroo Express on July 12, 2019

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said in March the men could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Rocky Mount, Wilson, Roanoke Rapids, Greenville, Sharpsburg and Pine Tops police departments, the Wilson and Greene county sheriff’s offices, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted the investigations in this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney J.D. Koesters is prosecuting the case for the government.

(Lance Martin is the Editor and Publisher of www.rrspin.com. Permission was received to publish this story.)