Till prison do they part: SoCal couple who eloped during crime spree face prison

A North Hollywood man who was part of a crew that robbed a dozen Southern California businesses and eloped to Las Vegas with an accomplice during the crime spree was sentenced Thursday to more than 16 and a half years in federal prison.

Antonio Lamar Bland, 36, received a 199-month sentence and was ordered to pay $17,829 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Bland pleaded guilty in November to one count of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Bland and his two robbery crew members — Ronnie Tucker, 24, of Long Beach, and Abigail Luckey, 50, of North Hollywood — robbed 12 businesses across Los Angeles and Orange counties over a 17-day stretch in early 2024. The trio hit 7-Eleven stores, doughnut shops and a smoke shop.

At one point during the crime spree, Bland and Luckey drove to Las Vegas and got legally married. Two days later, the newlyweds committed another robbery.

The spree ended on Valentine’s Day when an employee at a Downey doughnut shop fired a handgun in self-defense and sent the suspects fleeing. Burbank police had been tracking the getaway car with a GPS device and pulled the trio over shortly after.

“He did it for the money; he did it for greed,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum, adding that Bland had “bragged about his crimes, labeling a picture of himself ‘#RobberyGang.’”

Tucker and Luckey have also pleaded guilty to felony charges and remain in federal custody awaiting their own sentencing hearings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.