A San Bernardino man was sentenced Thursday, Aug. 25, to 65 years to life in prison for his role in an attempted robbery that led to the shooting death of a man at a Buena Park gas station in 2016, court records show.
Dejon Vincent Griffin, 38, was not the shooter but conspired with two other men to rob Maher Yousef, 24, of La Mirada after the victim had left his cash-checking business over the Fourth of July weekend.
His co-defendants, Jeffrey Tuli, 39, and Aaron Vermont Jackson, 41, also San Bernardino residents, were sentenced in late July. Tuli, convicted by a jury of fatally shooting Yousef, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Jackson was sentenced to 65 years to life.
The three men exchanged text messages in the days preceding the attempted robbery, Judge Gregg L. Prickett noted before sentencing Tuli and Jackson in July.
They scouted out the parking lot outside the cash-checking business where Yousef worked before slashing a tire on his Dodge Charger. They followed him as he pulled into the gas station to deal with the flat tire.
After Yousef’s friend went inside the mini-mart to get water, the three men surrounded Yousef, with Jackson at the driver’s side door, Tuli on the passenger side and Griffin rummaging through the trunk. The victim was held at gunpoint while being told to hand over money.
While Yousef attempted to get out of the vehicle, Jackson punched him and Tuli panicked, he would tell detectives, and shot Yousef. The crimes were caught by surveillance video.
At the July hearing, family members remembered Yousef as a hard-working, generous man with dreams of opening up other businesses. He worked seven days a week, his brother, Basil, has said.
The defendants fled with nothing after the shooting and were caught months later, with Tuli being found in Riverside, Jackson in Las Vegas and Griffin in Lakewood, Washington.
Jurors convicted the three of murder in March.
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