ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando man was sentenced to prison on Monday after committing five armed robberies in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In a release, DOJ officials said Geoffrey Gaston, 29, entered an Orlando 7-Eleven in the early morning hours of Sept. 12, 2022, while dressed in all-black and wearing gloves.
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During that robbery, Gaston was wielding what appeared to be a handgun, and he demanded all of the money in the cash drawer, the release said.
Detectives said they later discovered Gaston had been searching online for terms like “realistic toy gun” in the weeks before the robbery, and he looked up the terms “.380,” “.22 pistol,” and “Saturday night special gun” after the robbery.
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DOJ officials stated Gaston was involved in four additional robberies, which are as follows:
- Sept. 26, 2022 (around 4:20 a.m.) — Gaston robbed a 7-Eleven store in Altamonte Springs while wearing the same outfit as his initial robbery. He displayed what appeared to be a firearm while robbing the store of $73.
- Sept. 26, 2022 (around 4:50 a.m.) — Gaston robbed a 7-Eleven store in Oviedo, taking $300.
- Oct. 5, 2022 (around 3:50 a.m.) — Gaston robbed a 7-Eleven store in Orlando, taking $100 after showing the cashier what looked like a firearm.
- Oct. 12, 2022 (around 4:45 a.m.) — Gaston returned to the first 7-Eleven he had robbed a month earlier, taking $350 after showing the cashier his weapon and demanding the cashier empty the cash drawer.
Ultimately, Gaston was arrested in October 2022 at the 7-Eleven store where he worked, investigators said.
Following his arrest, Gaston was ordered to forfeit the $1,323 he had stolen, along with $517 found in his vehicle that was “proceeds of the offenses,” the DOJ release reads.
Gaston pled guilty on Nov. 16, 2023. On Monday, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the five armed robberies.
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