Craigslist Marijuana Robberies: Juggalo Jahmela Banks, Jesse Dean Busted

Yesterday, we told you about a Craigslist-related shooting in Littleton; two men responding to an ad allegedly tried to rob a homeowner, who ultimately shot and killed one of the suspects.

It's one of numerous Colorado crimes related to Craigslist that we've reported about over the years.

Now, two more join the list — a pair of robberies in which the victims placed Craigslist ads offering to trade, rather than sell, marijuana.

While selling cannabis on Craigslist is illegal in Colorado, there are plenty of offers on the service to "exchange" marijuana for a donation. But Jahmela Banks, Jesse Deen, Andrew Murillo and Joshua Kelch are accused of trying to simply rip off the weed at gunpoint.

According to their respective Facebook pages, Deen and Banks are an item.

Here's a photo of Deen....


...and this is one of many Banks portraits in her gallery.


Note that her Facebook profile image testifies (as does her hat) to her status as a juggalo — a fan of the group Insane Clown Posse.


Juggalos resent being associated with crime and claim the assumption they're more likely than the average music-lover to break bad is a form of discrimination.

Unfortunately for them, the account offered by Fort Collins Police Services is hardly an example of law-abiding citizenry.

At about 6:05 p.m. on January 24, according to the FCPS, officers responded to a report of a robbery at 3512 South Timberline Road in Fort Collins.

That's the location of a McDonald's restaurant, where two victims arranged to meet with folks who'd contacted them through Craigslist to trade marijuana.

The transaction didn't go smoothly. Deen, Banks, Murillo and Kelch allegedly balked at the amount of the donation. The ensuing disagreement didn't end until one of the men pointed a gun at the exchangers from inside their vehicle.


At that point, the victims split and called 911 — but not before reportedly memorizing the license plate number of the car in question.

About an hour later, members of the Longmont Police Department were tipped to a robbery with the same m.o. in their city — a marijuana exchange gone wrong. Moreover, the description of the vehicle was the same as the one in the Fort Collins incident.

The ride was spotted around 8:30 p.m. on the 24th by Larimer County deputies, who pulled it over on Interstate 25 near mile marker 266. Shortly thereafter, Deen, Banks, Murillo and Kelch were busted, even though the weapon mentioned earlier has yet to be found.

If you have any information about these incidents, you're encouraged to  contact Detective Bryan Vogel at 970-416-2392 or Crime Stoppers of Larimer County at 970-221-6868.

In the meantime, remember to be careful when it comes to Craigslist — even when you're hoping to trade rather than buy or sell.