OAKLAND — An East Bay man who joined a robbery crew that raked in hundreds of thousands in jewelry, cash and marijuana has been sentenced to five years and 10 months behind bars, court records show.

Darrin Hutchinson, 36, is the latest member of a West Oakland robbery crew to face federal prison behind a spree of 2022 robberies, culminating with an extravagant birthday party where crew members flashed cash and stolen jewelry out in the open. Hutchinson pleaded guilty to conspiracy and robbery charges and is currently housed at FTC Mendota, a medium-security federal prison near Fresno, records show.

The crew was comprised of members of the Ghost Town gang, which is based in West Oakland and has existed for decades, according to prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín sentenced Hutchinson on Oct. 22, court records show.

Hutchinson penned a handwritten letter to the court from jail, in which he apologized to the family of a jeweler he robbed, as well as his own family. He said that thanks to a vocational program at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, he’ll have access to a job when he gets out, which he said is a “blessing.”

“So today I Darrin Hutchinson ask you to have mercy and grace on me. I am asking for a chance to prove my change, change to myself, my family and society and to you also Your Honor,” Hutchinson wrote. He said his past crimes represent the “person I once was.”

A defense sentencing memo says Hutchinson has endured several personal tragedies, including the loss of an infant sister to SIDS, a brother who was gunned down in a still-unsolved homicide in the early 2000s, and his brother Demouria Hogg being shot and killed by Oakland police as he slept in a car in 2015. Firefighters spotted Hogg asleep in a BMW a few blocks away from Lake Merritt on Lake Park Avenue and called police because there was a gun on the passenger seat. Hogg’s parents later sued the city and received a $1.2 million settlement.

Prosecutors asked for a 76-month sentence, writing in court filings that Hutchinson has three prior felony convictions and after serving a sentence in each one, “within a short time, he committed a new offense, typically one involving violence.” His gang membership was reportedly established by a tattoo on his chest featuring cartoonish ghosts and the phrase “Ghost Town.”

The crew’s robberies included one at a coin store in March 2022 with a loss of $300,000, an August 2022 cannabis dispensary holdup in Oakland with a loss of $100,000 and a San Pablo jewelry store robbery with estimated losses of up to $500,000, authorities said.

“The jewelry store robbery was very violent with victims being held at gunpoint or running away while screaming in terror and store customers including a young child suddenly accosted at gunpoint,” two assistant U.S. attorneys wrote in a sentencing brief.

At the end of 2022, the crew gathered to celebrate the birthday of Aramiya Burrell, who is now one of Hutchinson’s co-defendants, and many robbery crew members wore stolen jewelry at the event.

In a video of the event, another co-defendant, Jakari Jenkins, can be seen wearing a diamond necklace referencing a slain Ghost Town member, eight bejeweled rings and donning a golden watch on his right hand while fanning out huge swaths of $100 bills for the camera. Another man wearing a golden watch and a chain depicting an assault rifle says they were making history, according to the footage which is contained in the court file.

“They ain’t never seen Ghost Town like this,” he says, as Jenkins nods in approval. “We the richest generation.”

Hutchinson advertised stolen jewelry for sale on Instagram, prosecutors added in their sentencing brief. But they conceded there is hope for Hutchinson’s future and that his situation is not without “mitigation.”

“He experienced a difficult upbringing, during which he experienced violence, both directly and in his environment. During his incarceration, to his credit, Mr. Hutchinson has completed a construction course that will provide him with marketable skills in the labor market,” the prosecution memo says. “Finally, to his further credit, Mr. Hutchinson has admitted his conduct and accepted responsibility for it.”