A teen charged with stealing $60,000 in an armed home invasion has received a deferred judgment in a deal with prosecutors.
Mohamed Abukar, 19, was charged with first-degree robbery in the May 2025 case. According to police, the hold-up came after a teen living in the home posted photos on social media showing a large amount of cash there.
Police said Abukar and several accomplices entered the home to steal the money, which belonged to the teen's mother. They said Abukar, who knew the teen, threatened the home's occupants with a firearm and at one point bit the teen, causing injuries.
Abukar pleaded guilty in March in a deal that resulted in his charge being amended to lesser counts of theft, burglary and assault. On July 31, he appeared for sentencing and received a deferred judgment on, meaning the charges may be removed from his record if he follows the court's requirements. That includes completing three years of probation and paying more than $3,000 in penalties and $60,000 in restitution.
In a separate case included in the same plea deal, Abukar pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug offense and was sentenced to 30 days he already had served.
In the wake of the 2025 robbery, Des Moines police discouraged residents from keeping large sums of cash at home.
"While having some cash on hand could be helpful at some point, there is a lot of risk that comes with keeping large sums of cash in your home," spokesperson Sgt. Paul Parizek said. "The risk of fire, or theft, and the possibility that your insurance company may not cover a large loss of cash, makes a bank or other financial institution a much safer option."
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at [email protected] or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Teen who stole $60K in armed home robbery gets deferred judgment