PHILADELPHIA - Derrick Godfrey, 45, of Philadelphia, was sentenced today to 509 months in prison, for an armed robbery spree over two days in June 2012, involving three communities. Godfrey was convicted June 27, 2014 of three counts of Hobbs Act Robbery and one count of brandishing a handgun during the second robbery. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge J. Curtis Joyner ordered five years of supervised release, a $500 special assessment and restitution of $860.
On June 1, 2012, shortly before 5:00 p.m., Godfrey robbed the Pennsylvania Wine & Spirits Shoppe, at 7146 Ridge Ave, in Philadelphia. He ordered the employees to turn over the cash contained in the store’s three registers. He stole $1,074 from the store which he placed in a multi-colored bag he was carrying. The next day, shortly before noon, Godfrey robbed the Pennsylvania Wine & Spirits Store at 504 West Marshall Street, Norristown, Pennsylvania. The store manager reported that the robber, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and brandishing a gun, entered the office area of the store and ordered the store clerk to empty the contents of the store safe into a multi-colored bag that he was carrying. That robbery netted Godfrey approximately $400 from the safe and another $200 from the cash registers. About 20 minutes later, Godfrey robbed the Dunkin’ Donuts store at 1941 West Main Street, West Norriton, Pennsylvania. He walked into the store and ordered employees to empty contents of the cash registers into a multi-colored bag that he was carrying. Godfrey stole approximately $318 in that robbery.
A short time later, East Norriton Township Police officers stopped the getaway car several miles from the Dunkin’ Donuts. Eyewitnesses identified Godfrey as the gunman and the car in which he was a passenger as the getaway car. Police searched the car and found the handgun which bore Godfrey’s DNA, several changes of clothing, a multi-colored shopping bag as described by the victims of the three armed robberies, and a black plastic bag with more cash.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the East Norriton Township Police Department, the Norristown Police Department, the Philadelphia Police Department, the West Norriton Township Police Department, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca Strubel and Matthew Quigg.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
