Staff Reports
A Gainesville man was sentenced on Monday to 30 years in prison on charges of racketeering and multiple armed robberies that occurred from 2021-22.
According to a State Attorney Eighth Judicial Circuit press release, Judge David Kreider sentenced Dekwan Andre Howard, 24, to 30 years in the Florida Department of Corrections with a minimum/mandatory 20 years followed by five years of probation.
The sentence stems from multiple altercations that started on Nov. 23, 2021, when the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) responded to the first of vie armed robberies that occurred in Gainesville and Alachua County.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) also responded to a robbery that included a similar pattern and descriptions of the suspects.
GPD detectives found DNA that placed Howard, 26-year-old Dennis Singleton Jr. and 22-year-old Antonio Bowers at the scene of multiple robberies.
On Sept. 1, 2022, GPD arrested the three suspects and gathered additional evidence.
A change of a plea hearing for Howard occurred on Feb. 20, 2024.
Bower and Singleton Jr.’s case management hearing is scheduled for April 9.