Laurel Man Pleads Guilty to Armed Robbery of Jessup Pharmacy

A 39-year-old Laurel man was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for the armed robbery of a Jessup pharmacy last fall. 

Roy Lee Moore, of the 7600 block of South Arbory Lane, was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of armed robbery and one count of possession of a controlled dangerous substance.

The Family Care Pharmacy, located at the Columbia Junction Shopping Center in the 8600 block of Route 1 in Jessup, was robbed of 2,500 tablets of the prescription painkiller Oxycodone on Sept. 19, 2011, police sad.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Broten said in a press release that the robbery “took a little over a minute” and that the pharmacy’s surveillance cameras captured the entire incident.

After the robbery, authorities searching with K-9s and a helicopter could not locate Moore, instead finding Stoni B. Horton, 35, of the 9400 block of Nicklaus Lane in Laurel, nearby in what they said was a getaway car.

After the car was towed to Howard County police headquarters in Ellicott City for investigation, Horton called to let authorities know there was a fake explosive device inside, said the Howard County Times. Upon inspection, officers found what looked like dynamite, according to the Times' report.

As a precaution, the Howard County Police Department was evacuated and the fire marshal was called in to investigate, said police. Between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., the building and parking lot were cordoned off until officials confirmed the device was a hoax, reported the Baltimore Sun.

The following day on Sept. 20 during a traffic stop, police arrested Moore after they said they found pills matching the description of those stolen.

Horton was also arrested as Moore’s accomplice, and on Jan. 20, Horton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. Horton has been sentenced to one year at the Howard County Detention Center to be followed by five years probation, Howard County court officials said.

Howard County Circuit Court Judge Lenore R. Gelfman on Tuesday sentenced Moore to 10 years in prison, suspending five years of the sentence, for his conviction on the armed robbery of the pharmacy. 

She sentenced him to a concurrent sentence of one year, plus one day for the possession of controlled dangerous substances found on him on the day of his arrest. 

Upon his release from prison he will be placed on five years of supervised probation during which he must abstain from alcohol and drug use, court officials said.