Gardiner Man Pleads Guilty to Pharmacy Robbery
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 18, 2014 |
PORTLAND, ME—United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced that Ryan McLaughlin, 26, of Gardiner, pled guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to pharmacy robbery.
According to court records, on November 13, 2013, McLaughlin entered the Shaw’s Osco pharmacy in Augusta and handed a note to a pharmacy employee demanding two bottles of oxycodone. He was agitated as he spoke with the pharmacy staff, stating that he was in a hurry and demanding that they move faster. He also kept one of his hands in his pocket during the incident, as if he were concealing something. Pharmacy personnel provided him with two bottles of oxycodone, and he left the store. In an interview after his arrest, McLaughlin admitted robbing the store and said he had committed the robbery to obtain pills to feed his severe addiction.
McLaughlin faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. He will be sentenced after completion of a presentence report by the United States Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by the Augusta Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.