Memphis, TN - A Memphis man has been sentenced to 262 months in federal prison for committing an armed robbery affecting interstate commerce. Lawrence J. Laurenzi, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentencing today.
According to information presented in court, on the morning of June 13, 2016, Patrick Owens, 48, of Memphis, Tennessee, entered the Bartlett Prescription Shop at 5675 Stage Road, brandishing a firearm. He went behind the pharmacy counter where three employees were working, demanded the employees open the vault containing prescription medication and took several hundred prescription pills of various types. Owens then threatened an employee with the firearm and took her car keys to aid in his escape, forcing the employees into the restroom at the back of the store at gunpoint.
Surveillance video shows Owens entered the employee’s vehicle but did not leave the parking lot. While sitting in the vehicle, a Bartlett Police Officer entered the store. Owens then exited the vehicle and ran into the woods.
Owens was caught near the scene moments later,wearing the same outfit as the individual seen in the surveillance video from the pharmacy. Police also found a bag of pills, an Arminius.38 caliber revolver, a red hat, a surgical mask, and gloves near the scene and near where Owens was found. He was arrested and taken in for questioning. Four days after his arrest, Owens confessed to the robbery of the Bartlett Prescription Shop.
In January 2016, Owens pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes to one count of robbery affecting interstate commerce and one count of use of a firearm during a crime of violence.
On Thursday, April 6, 2017, Judge Fowlkes sentenced Owens to 262 months in federal prison.
The case was investigated by the Bartlett Police Department and by detectives from the Memphis Police Department’s Safe Streets Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
