Hueytown Man Sentenced to 18 Years for Armed Pharmacy Robberies
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 20, 2013 |
BIRMINGHAM—A federal judge today sentenced a Hueytown man to 18 years in prison for a series of armed pharmacy robberies in 2011 and 2012, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein, Jr.
U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon sentenced Anthony Young, 22, in accordance with a binding plea agreement Young entered with the government. The agreement specified an 18-year prison sentence for Young’s pleas of guilty to three pharmacy robberies in the Birmingham metro area and to brandishing a firearm during one of the robberies. Cash and controlled substances, including narcotic painkillers, were taken in all three robberies.
Brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence carries a minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum of life, and the sentence must be served after completion of any other sentence imposed for the crime. Judge Kallon sentenced Young to 11 years in prison for the pharmacy robberies, followed by seven years for brandishing the gun during a robbery.
Young pleaded guilty in August to robbing Moore’s Pharmacy on Ensley Avenue in Birmingham on July 30, 2011; Campbell’s Pharmacy on Veterans Memorial Drive in Adamsville on August 27, 2011; and Helena Hometown Pharmacy on Alabama Highway 17 in Helena on March 13, 2012. He admitted to brandishing a gun during the Helena robbery.
Two co-defendants in the case, Birmingham cousins Willie and Sterling Edwards, pleaded guilty earlier this year to their roles in the pharmacy robberies. Willie Edwards, 40, pleaded guilty to robbing Moore’s Pharmacy and to brandishing a gun during the robbery. Judge Kallon sentenced him in April to 20 years and one month in prison.
Sterling Edwards, 21, pleaded guilty to the Helena Hometown Pharmacy robbery and to a second robbery at Campbell’s Pharmacy on October 13, 2011. He also pleaded guilty to brandishing a gun during the Helena robbery. Judge Kallon sentenced Sterling Edwards in July to 11 years and nine months in prison.
The robbers in all four crimes entered the pharmacies and demanded the narcotics Lortab or Oxycontin, according to court documents.
The FBI and Birmingham, Adamsville, and Helena Police Departments investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph P. Montminy and Robin B. Mark prosecuted the case.