KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Two men from Mexico convicted of robbing stores in Blount, Knox and Loudon counties in 2019 will spend at least a decade in prison.
Eastern District of Tennessee Judge Thomas Varlan sentenced Juan Sanchez, 24, and Emmanuel Trejo, 22, to prison time after the two pleaded guilty to three counts of Hobbs Act robbery and three counts of brandishing a firearm.
Thomas sentenced Sanchez to serve 24 years in prison, and Trejo to serve 16 years in prison. The two are subject to deportation after serving their sentences.
In July 2019, authorities said the two robbed three businesses across the area using a gun and a knife -- including La Lupita Mexican Store in Maryville on July 10, 2019. No one was hurt in those robberies, but Blount County deputies said Sanchez fired several shots from his gun during the La Lupita robbery.
Authorities arrested Trejo a week after the robbery when a task force found and stopped him in a vehicle identified during the crimes. A SWAT team with the Knox County Sheriff's Office later arrested Sanchez after executing a search warrant at Larkspur Lane in the Powell community.
“This robbery had a major impact on the family who owns La Lupita as well as the customers who shop there,” Blount County Sheriff James Lee Berrong said. “Mr. Sanchez and Mr. Trejo committed a violent crime against citizens of our community, and our investigators took that to heart and worked extremely hard to solve this case."
