Two Gwinnett County men recently entered guilty pleas for a string of armed robberies which eventually led to the shooting death of a retired Gwinnett County Sheriff's Deputy in Buford in 2020.
According to a press release from the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office, Prince Tafari Robertson, 31, of Lawrenceville, and Tavares Levon Norah, 29, of Buford, pled guilty Friday in Gwinnett County Superior Court and were sentenced.
The investigation found Robertson and Norah were responsible for a string of armed robberies at auto parts stores across Gwinnett County and the metro Atlanta area from 2017 to 2020.
Robertson and Norah went to the O'Reilly Auto Parts store on Hamilton Mill Road in Buford on Jan. 8, 2020, where they stormed the store with a gun and robbed the cashier. During that incident, Robertson shot and killed the cashier, identified as Felix Cosme, 63, of Dacula. Cosme died shortly after. Cosme was a retired Gwinnett County Sheriff's Deputy.
Norah was the get-away driver for the Jan. 8, 2020 robbery.
Robertson was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole as part of his plea to one count of felony murder, eight counts of armed robbery, four counts of aggravated assault, one count of criminal damage to property in the second degree, and one count of obstruction of an officer. His sentence requires him to serve a minimum of 30 years before being considered for parole.
Norah was sentenced to 40 years with the first 20 years in prison after he pled guilty to 10 counts of armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, one count of criminal damage to property in the second degree, and one count of obstruction of an officer. His sentence requires him to serve 20 years without the possibility of parole.
The two men remain under investigation for armed robberies at auto parts stores in several other area counties.
“This was a case that was scheduled to go to trial this month. Our team worked hard to negotiate these pleas resulting in lengthy prison sentences for two extremely violent offenders that terrorized our region,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said.
