HOLMES COUNTY – A federal jury has convicted a Holmes County man of Hobbs Act robbery and using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime in connection with the armed robbery of a Dollar General in Carroll County, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.
U.S. Attorney Scott F. Leary said Carleone Pate Jr., 21, of Lexington was found guilty Tuesday. Authorities said Pate had recently been released from the Mississippi Department of Corrections after serving a three-year sentence for two aggravated assault convictions in DeSoto County and was out on bail at the time of the robbery.
According to court records, the robbery happened the morning of Jan. 19, 2023, in the Black Hawk community of Carroll County. Prosecutors said a masked gunman entered the Dollar General at the intersection of Highways 430 and 17 and demanded money from the cash register and safe.
Source: US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of MS
Source: US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of MSThe U.S. Attorney’s Office said the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office responded quickly and began a search that led to Pate’s arrest. Authorities said officers with the sheriff’s office, Mississippi Highway Patrol and other nearby agencies worked to limit possible escape routes by setting up perimeter checkpoints.
Pate was later arrested in the woods of northern Holmes County by an off-duty game warden assisted by a maintenance technician with the Mississippi Department of Transportation, according to prosecutors.
The jury found Pate guilty on both charges and also found that he brandished a firearm during the robbery, authorities said. He will be sentenced at a later date by Chief U.S. District Judge Debra M. Brown.
Leary praised the work of local and state law enforcement, saying federal involvement came through Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department initiative aimed at fighting violent crime in partnership with state and local agencies.
Carroll County Sheriff Clint Walker said the Black Hawk Dollar General is an important part of the community and thanked the deputies, participating agencies, prosecutors and jurors involved in the case.
