KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for four armed robberies of local businesses committed during a month-long crime spree.

Montez L. Clayton, 29, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 20 years in federal prison without parole.

On Jan. 3, 2019, Clayton pleaded guilty to the armed robberies of four businesses in March and April 2018, and to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Clayton admitted that he robbed the Subway restaurant at 1831 Independence Ave., Kansas City, on March 18, 2018; the 7-Eleven store at 1701 Independence Ave., Kansas City, on March 26, 2018; the Metro PCS store at 2506 Independence Ave., Kansas City, on April 5, 2018; and the Metro PCS store at 2217 E. 12th St., Kansas City, on April 9, 2018. Clayton used a Jimenez 9mm pistol in each of those robberies.

Clayton provided his phone number and account information when he asked an employee to check the balance on his account during the first Metro PCS robbery. Law enforcement officers traced the location of Clayton’s phone to a Kansas City residence, where he was arrested.

According to court documents, Clayton has an extensive criminal record that includes a history of violence. For example, in November 2013, he was charged with multiple counts of domestic assault for assaulting a mother of two of his children, and with one count of unlawful use of a weapon for exhibiting a firearm at her in an angry or threatening manner. In one of the assaults, Clayton’s child was in the arms of the victim while he assaulted her. In 2014, Clayton pleaded guilty to domestic assault for striking the victim in the head with a dumbbell and to unlawful use of a weapon. In 2015, while on probation, he was convicted of assaulting a different victim, also the mother of one of his children. In that assault, Clayton struck the victim in the face, pushed her, kicked her, pushed her down the stairs, and put his hands in her mouth. In February 2017, while he was under probation supervision on two cases and while he had an outstanding arrest warrant for probation violations, Clayton was charged with assault for kicking yet another female victim.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashleigh A. Ragner. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.