Arcadia man sentenced for impersonating police, burglarizing homes

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — An Arcadia man joins six other Tampa Bay area suspects, among two other Floridians, who were convicted of multiple armed robberies while dressed as law enforcement officers. order, the Justice Department announced Friday.

Darius “Toot” Hudson, 44, will spend the next 39 years and two months in federal prison, joining the eight other co-conspirators.

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Between December 2020 and April 2021, a group came together to commit armed robberies in Pasco, Polk, Hillsborough and Lee counties, as well as Georgia and Arizona.

The suspects wore black clothing, gloves and masks, with law enforcement badges or vests reading “Sheriff” to pose as officers. According to the DOJ, they also drove black SUVs equipped with headlights.

During the robberies, they would wake the victims and their families in the middle of the night and beat them, pistol-whipped them, threatened them, and sometimes shot them. Often they were also handcuffed.

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The DOJ said Hudson was identified as the man who brought a white backpack to store the restraints they would use on their victims.

Hudson, the last to be sentenced to federal prison, joins his fellow conspirators:

• Reginald “Rudy” Roberts, Jr., 24, of Lakeland: Sentenced to 41 years

• Nathaniel “Nate” Keith Carr, 24, of Avon Park: Sentenced to 26 years and 6 months

• Daniel “D-Jack” Jackson, 31, of Winter Haven: Sentenced to 22 years and 11 months

• Chrisshawn “Baby” Butler, 24, of Bartow: Sentenced to 20 years and 6 months

• Jeremy “Presto” Bernard Hazelton, 28, of Bartow: Sentenced to 15 years and 8 months

• O’Marie “Mari” Danyell Hudson, 26, of Orlando: Sentenced to 11 years and 3 months

• Jasmine Weber, 30, of Delton: Sentenced to 5 years

• Elyana “Cuban” Bazail, 25, of Lakeland: Sentenced to 5 years

Hudson was convicted Jan. 22 and sentenced Friday for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, three separate Hobbs Act robberies, and brandishing and discharging a firearm during the flights.

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