MURFREESBORO, TN - 27-Year-old defendant Joshua Hallmon of Murfreesboro, was convicted on Wednesday by a federal jury on all 12 counts he faced for a string of violent crimes he committed in Murfreesboro and Franklin, announced United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Hallmon and two co-defendants, Charles Melvin Walker and Walter Lee Williams, were charged by a federal grand jury in May 2021 with multiple counts of Hobbs Act robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Additionally, Hallmon was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Prior to trial, Walker and Williams both pleaded guilty to all charges against them.
The charges in this case related to a crime spree that spanned from July 6 to July 27, 2020, involving the armed robberies of Twice Daily and Mapco gas stations in Murfreesboro on July 6 and July 23, 2020.
Then, on the night of July 26 through 27, 2020, Hallmon and his co-defendants committed an armed carjacking and kidnapping in Murfreesboro, attempted to commit a second armed carjacking in Franklin, and committed a third armed carjacking and kidnapping in Murfreesboro in which Williams shot the victim in the face.
“As a result of today’s convictions, this violent criminal will be spending over three decades in federal prison,” said United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis. “I commend the outstanding work done in this case by our prosecutors and our state and federal law enforcement partners to protect our community from violent crime.”
Joshua Hallmon faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 34-years, and up to life, in federal prison. Hallmon and his co-defendants will be sentenced by United States District Judge Eli Richardson later this year.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; the Murfreesboro Police Department; the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office; the Smyrna Police Department; the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; the Franklin Police Department; and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chris Suedekum and Rachel Stephens are prosecuting the case.
