Matthew M. Graves U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia
Ashawntea Henderson, a 32-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., received a 52-month federal prison sentence for his involvement in the robbery of a pharmacy at the Jersey Shore. The incident occurred in May 2020 when Henderson and his accomplices overpowered a night pharmacist, stealing numerous prescription narcotics before crashing into a police cruiser while attempting to flee.
The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, alongside FBI Special Agents Sean Ryan from the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division and Brian Driscoll from the Newark Field Office.
Henderson pleaded guilty on October 30, 2024, to interference of commerce by robbery under the Hobbs Act. Judge Amy Berman Jackson also imposed three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Court documents revealed that Henderson and his co-conspirators targeted all-night pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS. On May 9, 2020, they traveled over 200 miles from Washington D.C. to Neptune, New Jersey's Walgreens Pharmacy on State Road 33.
At approximately 3:09 a.m., masked and gloved Henderson along with two others entered the pharmacy demanding codeine, Adderall, and Percocet. They forced the pharmacist to open locked cabinets containing additional pills. After obtaining thousands of prescription medications including Oxycodone and morphine, they fled in a black Nissan Altima driven by another accomplice. During their escape back to Washington D.C., their vehicle collided with a police patrol car but continued at high speed.
Upon returning to Washington D.C., as they celebrated at a hotel, one conspirator received texts from a known drug distributor about selling drugs similar to those stolen in Neptune.
Henderson is concurrently serving a five-year sentence in Maryland related to firearm possession charges from 2022.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Violent Crimes Task Force along with Neptune Township Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Song, Sarah Martin, and Cameron Tepfer.
