PRINCESS ANNE — For the 2019 armed robbery and assault of a clerk at the Westover Dollar General a 25-year-old Delaware man was sentenced to serve 35 years in prison.

Timothy Dwan Jarvis, of Milford, received 20 years for use of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime — which requires him to serve at least 5 years without the possibility of parole.

He received an additional 15 years for armed robbery to run consecutively.

Circuit Court Judge Daniel W. Powell said he respects the jury’s verdict but held armed robbery at 15 years because that is what Jarvis’ accomplice Anthony L. Horsey Jr. received after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.

“It can’t go unpunished,” the judge said. “You can’t go into a store and pistol-whip a clerk in broad daylight and not be punished for it.”

The jury heard the case during a three-day trial in late October but sentencing was held until Feb. 8 so a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) could be completed.
State’s Attorney Wess Garner said Jarvis has a rap sheet starting with crimes as a juvenile in 2011, with three store robbery cases for which two led to convictions.

Defense attorney Pamela Correa took issue with one in 2015 which she said it should have been attributed to Jarvis’ twin brother who has a different middle name. She acknowledged the PSI did not show as she had hoped a report more favorable about her client’s character.

A star athlete growing up Jarvis never finished high school and instead was in and out of correctional facilities starting at age 15. Correa said Jarvis grew up in an abusive household, and was witness to a home invasion where his mother and sister were tied up.

As a child he watched helplessly as a friend drowned.
Despite having a mother and father, and seven siblings including his twin brother, none of them were in court to show support during sentencing. “He’s standing before you, frankly terrified,” the defense attorney said.
Jarvis asked the court in a letter for no more than 10 years for the robbery. In court he told the judge it was “Very embarrassing to stand here” because he was taught the Golden Rule and “to respect my elders.”

“I really want to get my life together and not spend my life in jail,” asking the court not to judge a book by its cover because “I’m a good person.” He said he wants to be there for his daughter, born since the robbery.

It was just after 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 30, 2019 when Jarvis entered the Westover Dollar General in a black mask and hood and demanded money from the register. He struck one employee in the head with the end of a pistol, but the defense reminded the judge at sentencing that no weapon was ever fired or recovered.

When Jarvis ran out of the store he ran toward a vehicle parked on Fairmount Road which was driven by his accomplice, Anthony Horsey, who pleaded guilty Oct. 19 to conspiracy to commit robbery. He was sentenced by Judge Powell to 15 years plus 5 more years for obstructing and hindering when he escaped from the State Police when being transported to the Somerset County Detention Center.

Following his three-day trial, Jarvis was found not guilty of first-degree assault and a related conspiracy charge. For sentencing Judge Powell merged into the armed robbery conviction eight other counts including robbery, second degree assault and theft which amounted to $834, according to trial testimony.

The judge ordered Jarvis’ sentence to start Oct. 19, 2019 — the day he was taken into custody in Delaware. He has been at the SCDC since Oct. 22 but will be transferred to a state facility.