Columbia Man Sentenced for Robbing Banks, Pharmacy

JEFFERSON CITY, MO—David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Missouri man was sentenced today to robbing a pharmacy and two banks.

Louis Michael Patti, 28, of Columbia, was sentenced today by District Judge Nanette Laughrey to 70 months.

Patti robbed Flow’s Pharmacy at 1506 E. Broadway in Columbia on March 17, 2011. Patti displayed what appeared to be a small black handgun and ordered a pharmacy employee to give him all of the hydrocodone and oxycontin. The employee gave Patti 10 manufacturer’s bottles of oxycontin, each containing 100 tablets, as well as six or seven bottles of hydrocodone. According to the plea agreement, the replacement cost of the drugs was $5,916.

Patti returned to Flow’s Pharmacy on May 13, 2011 at about 8 a.m. and wandered about the front of the store until the owner arrived. When the owner stepped behind the counter, Patti displayed an eight-inch knife and told the owner, “I want all your oxycodone.” The owner, who had armed himself with a handgun after the first robbery, retrieved his weapon and chased Patti from the store.

The next day, May 14, 2011, Patti stole $4,920 from Clay County Savings Bank at 8140 N. Brighton in Kansas City, Missouri. Patti asked a teller for a deposit slip, on which he wrote a demand note that indicated he had a gun. The teller handed him cash from her drawer, and he quickly left the bank.

On May 20, 2011, Patti stole $2,192 from Boone County National Bank at 1916 Paris Rd in Columbia by presenting a demand note to a teller.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the FBI; the Columbia, Missouri Police Department; and the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department.