Ali Chandler, a 30-year-old Philadelphia resident, was sentenced on Apr. 15 to 210 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution for his role in two violent home invasion robberies targeting business owners and employees. United States District Judge Juan R. Sánchez handed down the sentence following Chandler’s guilty plea.
The case is significant as it highlights the risks faced by local business owners and their families from targeted violent crimes. The court proceedings detailed how Chandler and co-defendant Abdullah Hartage planned and executed two separate armed robberies after conducting surveillance on their victims.
According to court filings, the first incident occurred on November 13, 2021. Chandler, Hartage, and others waited outside a business until closing time before following the owners and their daughter home. Once the family arrived at their residence, four armed perpetrators stormed into the garage. The male victim was struck several times in the head; his daughter was forced to the ground at gunpoint; and his wife was also assaulted before being taken inside at gunpoint. The attackers fled after triggering a security alarm but took a backpack containing personal items.
In another robbery on December 4, 2021, Chandler’s group targeted an employee of an area store after weeks of surveillance. After following her home one evening, three armed men broke into her house shortly after she arrived. They zip-tied her to a chair and pistol-whipped her face before stealing a safe with cash, coins, and jewelry.
Chandler pleaded guilty in October 2024 alongside Hartage to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery as well as two counts related to using or threatening violence during these crimes. Hartage received an eighteen-year prison sentence earlier this year.
The investigation involved FBI Philadelphia’s Newtown Square Resident Agency along with Pennsylvania State Police and Montgomery Township Police Department.
