Rockland Man Pleads Guilty to Pharmacy Robbery
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 17, 2014 |
PORTLAND, ME—United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced that Elbert Ranquist, 43, of Rockland, Maine, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to interfering with commerce by robbery.
According to court documents, on the evening of August 5, 2013, Ranquist drove to Jensen’s Pharmacy in Rockland in his wife’s distinctive vehicle. He entered the pharmacy wearing sunglasses, a hooded sweatshirt pulled tight around his face, a small blue backpack, and blue surgical gloves. He went to the counter holding a knife in his left hand and demanded oxycodone from the pharmacist. The pharmacist, who recognized the defendant as a regular customer, asked out loud if he was really being robbed by Elbert Ranquist. The defendant absconded with 10 5-mg oxycodone pills.
Ranquist faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or both. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rockland Police Department, and the Maine State Police.