Members of Armed Robbery Ring Convicted
A federal jury today convicted Emmanuel Duran, Raheem Brown, and John Bowie, of the armed robberies of pharmacies in Philadelphia between February and May of 2010 and convicted Duran and Brown of robbing the A &G Auto Body at 2015 N. 19th Street in Philadelphia. All of the defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, conspiracy to distribute the narcotics they sold, and related weapons offenses. The pharmacies that were robbed by one or more of the defendants included:
2/8/10 M.D. Pharmacy, 1641 N. Franklin Street, Phila. Bowie charged
2/23/10 M.D. Pharmacy, 1641 N. Franklin Street, Phila. Bowie charged
4/21/10 Pharmacy of America, 1500 E. Erie, Phila. All charged
4/29/10 Ellis Pharmacy, 2441 Brown Street, Phila. All charged
5/7/10 Germantown Pharmacy, 5100 Germantown Ave., Phila. Duran &
Brown charged
5/25/10 Henneberry Pharmacy, 828 N. 24th Street, Phila. Brown & Bowie
charged
In two of the robberies, shots were fired by one or more of the defendants. A customer at A&G was shot in the leg; in the Ellis Pharmacy robbery, two guns were fired at the victim and at neighbors who were trying to stop the defendants.
All three defendants are from Philadelphia; Duran is 28, Brown is 24, Bowie is 23.
Earlier this month, Bowie and Duran were convicted of home invasion robberies and other offenses, along with a third defendant, Lamar Staten. As a result of those convictions and these, Bowie and Duran face a mandatory prison term of at least 207 years. Brown and Lamar Staten each face a sentence of at least 107 years in prison. Sentencing hearings are scheduled for October 16th and 17th, 2012.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department, with the assistance of the Bensalem Township Police Department and the Yeadon Township Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Arlene Fisk and J. Jamari Buxton.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525
