An insurance adjuster who admitted to using her job to access information on potential robbery targets and providing her accused co-conspirators with fake police gear will spend years behind bars.
Jasmine Weber, 28, of Tampa, Florida, was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to a single federal robbery count. According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Weber used her role as a claims adjuster to access a LexisNexis database and identify potential robbery targets after alleged members of the crime ring provided her with “identifying information” about their potential victims, the DOJ said in a press release.
“Utilizing that database, and knowing the co-conspirators’ intentions, Weber researched the intended victims, and located their home addresses,” the press release said. “Members of this conspiracy then committed robberies at those locations.”
Images provided by the FBI show fake law enforcement items allegedly worn during robberies. Inset: Jasime Weber (via Polk County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office).
The robberies took place between December 2020 and April 2021.
“Webber knew that members of this conspiracy would carry out their crimes by pretending to be law enforcement officers,” said the plea agreement, which spelled Weber’s name differently from how it is listed in the federal docket and by the DOJ. “The defendant was aware of this conspiracy, and voluntarily participated in helping to accomplish its goal. Specifically, the defendant purchased equipment, including Sheriffs vests, and other items that she knew would be used by conspirators in the commission of several Hobbs Act throughout the Middle District of Florida.”
At times, according to prosecutors, the robbery crimes turned violent.
Using information provided by Weber, the alleged co-conspirators “then committed robberies at those residences, some of which resulted in victims being beaten, pistol whipped, and shot,” the DOJ’s press release said.
Weber pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery — a federal crime under a statute prohibiting robbery or extortion that affects interstate commerce. She was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew, a Bill Clinton appointee.
According to Weber’s plea agreement, she agreed to “cooperate fully” with federal prosecutors, including testifying at trial, in their investigation into her alleged co-conspirators.
Court filings indicate that Bucklew agreed to a downward variance of the sentencing guidelines range after Weber addressed the court during her Dec. 8 sentencing hearing. Weber initially faced a potential statutory maximum sentence of 20 years.
She was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and will be required to participate in a substance abuse program and mental health treatment program.
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