A Chattanooga man was sentenced Wednesday to almost 16 years in prison for robbing a local Cash Express of $2,680 at gunpoint.
At the federal courthouse, Imari Glover was sentenced to 188 months for unlawfully obstructing, delaying and affecting interstate commerce by committing a robbery on March 7, 2020; the maximum possible sentence for the offense is 20 years.
“I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life, but I’m not an animal,” Glover said during the hearing.
Glover’s accomplice, Shelby Beam, entered a Cash Express at 7431 E. Brainerd Road under the guise of applying for a loan. She was his girlfriend.
As Beam left the location, Glover burst in and leapt over the counter with a gun.
Prosecutors showed a brief clip of the security footage from the Cash Express.
“You’re gonna die! You’re gonna die!” Glover yelled, as the cashier screamed and cried.
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He placed the store clerk in a choke hold, pointed the gun at her and demanded she open the safe so he could steal the money from the store, according to prosecutors.
Beam is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 16 in connection with the robbery.
Prosecutors pointed to Glover’s alleged behavior following the crime as a reason for a harsh sentence. Beam cooperated with authorities after the couple was caught.
Glover allegedly texted Beam that he was going to punish her for speaking against him, prosecutors said. He allegedly threatened to kill her or to make sure she was in a wheelchair and needed plastic surgery.
While Glover was in custody, he allegedly used a contraband cellphone to post a photograph of a rat in crosshairs as his Facebook cover photo.
He did that in an attempt to intimidate Beam, prosecutors said.
Glover was in state custody for a majority of his childhood after his mother was accused of abusing him and his siblings, he said. His father wasn’t in the picture.
Despite that, he beat the odds, Glover said. He said according to statistics, he wasn’t supposed to live to see 21, go to high school or college.
Glover said he managed all three.
Glover motioned to a dozen of his family members seated in the court to show he had people who love him.
“This is one of the scariest things I’ve ever been through in my life,” Glover said. “I’m potentially going to be away from my family forever.”
U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier said he was very disturbed that Glover felt the need to say he wasn’t an animal five times throughout the sentencing hearing, and Collier hoped Glover had never been treated that way.
It was profound that Glover was able to admit he found one constant in all of his problems — himself, Collier said.
“You are a unique person,” Collier said. “You are human.”
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.