Two South Florida men get long prison sentences for killing plumber in robbery set-up
Two South Florida men are going to prison for a long time for fatally shooting a plumber who responded to a phony service call.
The shooter, Jamal Lamar Head, got 60 years. The accomplice, Keon Travy Glanton, received 33 years.
Both men pleaded guilty in April to murdering Lester Hernandez, 37, on July 12, 2018. The Roto-Rooter plumber was called to a Miami Lakes home in a robbery set-up and later got shot during a struggle inside a getaway car.
The men’s M.O. was to trick plumbers into answering fake calls for service and then to steal their valuable plumbing equipment. In the case of Hernandez, it cost him his life, authorities said.
Head and Glanton, who have been held at the Miami Federal Detention Center since their arrests in early 2019, were charged with robbery, kidnapping and killing the plumber. The men, both 35, could have been sent to prison for maximum life sentences, but on Thursday U.S. District Judge Roy Altman instead imposed a combination of years of imprisonment.
According to factual statements filed with their plea agreements, Head was involved in three robbery schemes targeting plumbers at three South Florida residences — Miami Gardens, Riviera Beach and Miami Lakes — between July 9 and July 12 of 2018. Glanton participated in the Riviera Beach and Miami Lakes robberies.
Here’s how the deadly incident unfolded: Glanton contacted the Roto-Rooter plumbing company and scheduled a service call at a vacant home in Miami Lakes. When the plumber, Hernandez, arrived in his van, he was confronted by Glanton and Head, according to court records. They forced him into the rear of the Volkswagen that Head had rented. Head drove the car away, and Glanton followed in the plumber’s van.
Head got into a struggle with the plumber inside the car, according to the factual statements. Head then shot Hernandez once in the head and twice in the abdomen and chest, causing his death. Head crashed the rental car into a tree and injured himself. The incident happened at Northwest 89th Avenue near Northwest 146th Street.
Head fled the scene and called Glanton, who returned to the area in the plumber’s van to pick him up, the statements said. Head and Glanton drove to another area of Miami, where they doused the plumber’s van in gasoline and lit it on fire.
Murder cases typically end up in state court. But the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged the case as a Hobbs Act armed robbery — one that affects commerce — along with multiple other violent crimes.
The case, prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorneys Daniel J. Marcet and Jessica Kahn Obenauf, was investigated by the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 1:05 PM.
