A 7-Eleven robbery crew that cleaned out lottery scratchers and other items from outlets in southern Los Angeles County is facing state prison charges. Three defendants were sentenced to 13 years in prison this week after pleading no contest to crimes related to a 2024 spree that authorities say netted more than $200,000 and included threats or assaults on store employees.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Darrick Johnson, 29, and Taivyon Spells, 20, with 11 felony charges of second-degree robbery. They both entered no contest pleas. James Guillermo Guyton, 29, has pleaded no contest to five counts of second-degree robbery, two counts of grand theft, and one count of felonious possession of ammunition.
The organization was linked to 28 coordinated 7-Eleven robberies between February and April 2024, all in southern Los Angeles County. According to officials, the stolen Scratchers and other products totaled more than $200,000. A fourth suspect, Jose Guzman Ferreyra, still faces a bench warrant, according to MyNewsLA.
According to investigators, the tickets themselves sparked the break in the investigation. Each pack of California Lottery Scratchers contains unique pack and ticket serial numbers, which can be reported as stolen. Detectives followed those numbers and then matched video footage of people redeeming winning tickets with the suspects.
The investigation involved the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, local city police agencies, and California State Lottery investigators. They followed the trail from the targeted 7-Eleven counters to the places where tickets were cashed. For more information on how lottery investigators and local agencies often collaborate in theft cases, visit the California State Lottery and the Los Angeles Times.
District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman stated that the crew’s actions “put workers in grave danger” and that the 13-year state prison sentences are intended to convey a message of “repeated, brazen crimes.” He pointed out that many of the impacted locations were franchise companies with owners who had invested their life savings and that the sentences reflect prosecutors’ perceptions of the human cost behind the dollar statistics. MyNewsLA reported on both his words and the office’s declaration.
Similar theft gangs have targeted convenience stores throughout Los Angeles County, leaving shopkeepers and franchise owners on edge and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the red. The Los Angeles Times reported that sheriff’s detectives collaborated with state lottery agents to arrest Scratchers thieves worth approximately $250,000. This highlights the need for multi-agency cooperation among law enforcement officers.
The investigation that led to the latest wave of pleas also included county and city detectives, California State Lottery investigators, and many local police agencies. They worked together to track stolen Scratchers packs from the moment they arrived at the redemption locations. According to the California State Lottery, such collaboration is common in the lottery’s Security and Law Enforcement Division’s efforts to detect and investigate stolen Scratchers.
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