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Press Release

Getaway Driver In Hobbs Act Robbery And Murder Of Woonsocket Gas Station Manager Sentenced To 40 Years In Federal Prison

For Immediate Release
District of Rhode Island






PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Jose A. Santiago, 36, of Springfield, Mass., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., to serve 40 years in prison for his role in the September 2010 armed robbery and murder of Woonsocket gas station manager David D. Main.

United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Vincent B. Lisi of the FBI’s Boston Field Office, Col. Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, and Chief Thomas S. Carey of the Woonsocket Police Department made the announcement.

According to court documents, Main, 49, was chased, shot to death at close range and robbed by Jason Wayne Pleau, 36, of Providence, as he approached the doorstep of a Woonsocket bank where he was preparing to deposit thousands of dollars in cash belonging to the gas station.  Santiago was the getaway driver of a box truck parked a block away from the bank in which Pleau fled moments after he robbed and fatally shot Mr. Main.

Pleau, who pleaded guilty on July 31, 2013, to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, Hobbs Act robbery, and carrying, using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a federal crime of violence resulting in death was sentenced in October 2013 to serve life in federal prison.

Santiago pleaded guilty on Sept. 5, 2013, to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, Hobbs Act robbery, and carrying, using, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a federal crime of violence resulting in death.  No plea agreement was filed in this matter.  At sentencing, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith also ordered Santiago to serve 5 years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

Co-defendant Kelly Marie Lajoie, 36, of Springfield, pleaded guilty on Dec. 9, 2011, to Hobbs Act conspiracy, aiding and abetting a Hobbs Act robbery and use of a firearm during a federal crime of violence.  Lajoie is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 19, 2014.

The matter was investigated by the Woonsocket Police Department, Rhode Island State Police and the FBI, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Rhode Island National Guard.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adi Goldstein and William J. Ferland of the District of Rhode Island and Trial Attorney Jacabed Rodriguez-Coss of the Criminal Division’s Capital Case Section.

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Contact: 401-709-5357
USARI.Media@usdoj.gov

Updated June 22, 2015