24 years for ‘incorrigible’ career criminal’s armed robberies of women in Twin Cities parking lots

A Minneapolis man has received a 24-year federal prison term for picking out two women in parking lots to rob at gunpoint and then stealing from another person during his spree, which targeted random victims.

Raphael Raymond Nunn, 58, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in St. Paul last week after jurors convicted him of kidnapping, bank fraud and identity theft in connection with crimes in the Twin Cities area more than two years ago.

In handing down his sentence, Judge Eric C. Tostrud said he found Nunn to be “incorrigible” and issued an especially lengthy sentence because he “posed an escalating danger to the public.”

After serving his prison time, Nunn will have five years of supervised release.

Ahead of sentencing, the prosecution asked the judge for a 27-year sentence, noting that Nunn is “a lifelong fraudster whose calculated deceit has left a wake of financial devastation spanning nearly three decades.”

Nunn’s criminal history in Minnesota includes three convictions for auto theft, two for check forgery and one for financial card fraud.

Nunn’s defense countered that its client should serve no more than 11¼ years in prison, noting that he was used as a child by his parents to deal drugs. During one drug transaction in Texas, Nunn was shot, defense attorney Charles Clippert told the court.

“His family valued a son who was a good drug dealer over a son who was a good student, good athlete or simply just stayed out of trouble,” Clippert wrote.

According to prosecutors:

Around 7:30 a.m. Sept. 13, 2022, Nunn approached a woman in Arden Hills who had just parked her vehicle outside her workplace. Masked and brandishing a handgun, Nunn forced her to drive him to an ATM in Minneapolis and withdraw cash so he could pay his rent. He then ordered the victim to drive to Matthews Park in the city’s Seward neighborhood, where he drove away in her vehicle.

Surveillance videos from surrounding businesses showed Nunn exiting the vehicle, removing his hood and mask, and entering a corner grocery store. Four days later, he returned to the store in a vehicle registered under his name and address. That led to his arrest on Sept. 22, 2022.

A search of Nunn’s residence turned up evidence from the kidnapping and revealed Nunn had stolen a backpack from Twin Cities Orthopedics in Oak Park Heights and used the owner’s debit card and personal identification at various local retailers.

He also robbed a third person at gunpoint in a Target parking lot in Hudson, Wis., and threatened to kill her if she didn’t hand over her purse. He then used her credit cards to siphon money from bank accounts.