An East Texas man with three prior theft convictions gets 20 years for robbing a gas station

A man from Nederland, Texas, with three previous convictions for theft, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for another robbery earlier this year.

Tarrell Donald Nowlin, 53, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and was sentenced to 240 months in prison on Tuesday, Oct. 1, by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas Damien M said. Diggs in a news release Tuesday from Beaumont, about 12 miles from the Netherlands.

Court documents show that on Jan. 16, law enforcement officers responded to an armed robbery call at the Speedway gas station on the Eastex Freeway in Beaumont.

The store clerk said the robber parked at one of the gas pumps, entered the store, pointed a revolver at the store clerk and demanded money. The clerk opened the cash register and handed approximately $550 to the robber, who then fled.

Authorities reviewed video footage from the gas station and surrounding businesses. They identified Nowlin as the attacker.

Investigators also determined that Nowlin was a career offender with three prior theft convictions.

Nowlin was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 3.

The FBI, Beaumont Police Department and Nederland Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Quinn prosecuted.