Man detained for armed robbery allegations
In November 2013, a Massachusetts man was taken into custody on charges related to a string of eleven pharmacy robberies. He has recently admitted to committing the violent crimes, and he was scheduled for sentencing on May 16. He may receive a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, the 30-year-old Holyoke man submitted a guilty plea in a federal court on Feb. 20 for his participation in 11 pharmacy robberies. On Oct. 4, 2013, a Walgreens on West Street in Cromwell, Connecticut, was robbed. Ten other pharmacies in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut were targeted between June 2013 and November 2013.
The first known robbery occurred at a Rite Aid in Holyoke on June 19. In at least several of the robberies, it was said that a man showed the stores’ staff members a handgun, then demanded that the store staff members give him prescription drugs that included oxycodone or OxyContin pills, a controlled substance. It is believed that thousands of pills were stolen over the course of several months.
Criminal charges for violent crimes can result in a sentence of many years or even decades of imprisonment. If an identification made from security camera footage leads to charges being levied, it might be questioned whether the low resolution that such cameras normally provide could have made for a mistaken identity. A Connecticut criminal lawyer might also ask if any evidence was seized from the property of the accused with neither probable cause nor a valid search warrant; a violation of the Fourth Amendment rights of the accused may allow for a reduction in charges.
Source: The Middletown Press, “Massachusetts man admits to 11 drug store robberies, including hold-up of Cromwell Walgreens“, February 21, 2014