News Release [print friendly page]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2009
Contact: Jodie Underwood
Number: (206) 553-5443

Lakewood Man Pleads Guilty to Pharmacy Robbery
Defendant was Getaway Driver

JUN 11 -- (Seattle) – DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Arnold R. Moorin and the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Jeffrey Sullivan, announced that Gary M. Jones, 21, of Lakewood, Washington, pleaded guilty on June 4, 2009 in U.S District Court to robbing a Walgreen’s Pharmacy in Lakewood, Washington. Jones faces a sentence of imprisonment of up to twenty years and a $250,000 fine.

In pleading guilty, Jones acknowledged that on March 31, 2009, he and another individual planned to rob a pharmacy in order to acquire oxycodone. Oxycodone is a highly abused and addictive Schedule II controlled substance.

As part of the plan, Jones agreed to act as the get-away driver. Subsequently, Jones drove to the pharmacy and waited in the vehicle while his accomplice, Brett Mitchell, also under federal indictment, entered the Walgreen’s Pharmacy and presented a note to the pharmacist demanding oxycodone. After receiving several bottles of oxycodone pills, Mitchell left the pharmacy, and jumped into the trunk of Jones’ waiting vehicle. Jones then sped away. The police encountered Jones’ vehicle several miles away where they found Mitchell in the trunk and 1,800 oxycodone pills. Following his arrest, Jones confessed to the above robbery and acknowledged being addicted to oxycodone.

In addition to pleading guilty, Jones agreed to pay restitution to the pharmacy in the amount of $9,168.00 for the replacement cost of the drugs stolen. Jones is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S District Judge Ronald Leighton on August 28, 2009, in Tacoma, Washington.

This case is part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Prescription Drug Initiative focused upon the unlawful proliferation of pharmaceutical controlled substances and the targeting of pharmacies within the Western District of Washington and elsewhere. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and by the Lakewood and Puyallup Police Departments.