FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WEDNESDAY - October 21, 2009

TEENAGER RECEIVES FEDERAL SENTENCE FOR ROBBERIES

RALEIGH - United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced that in federal court today United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced STEPHEN PETER SYLVESTER, 19, of Raleigh, North Carolina, to 97 months’ imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release.

A Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment on February 19, 2009. On July 29, 2009, SYLVESTER pled guilty to two counts of robbery of a business in interstate commerce, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951 and one count of using and carrying a firearm during a federal crime of violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924.

On October 16, 2008, during the attempted robbery of the McDonald’s located at Spring Forest Road in Raleigh, SYLVESTER grabbed one of the employees by the hair and dragged the victim around the store with the gun stuck in her neck. On December 11, 2008, SYLVESTER, armed with a shotgun, robbed a Kangaroo gas station in Raleigh.

This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Raleigh Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jane J. Jackson represented the government.

News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.