Hueytown Man Sentenced to 18 Years for Armed Pharmacy Robberies

BIRMINGHAM—A federal judge today sentenced a Hueytown man to 18 years in prison for a series of armed pharmacy robberies in 2011 and 2012, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein, Jr.
U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon sentenced Anthony Young, 22, in accordance with a binding plea agreement Young entered with the government. The agreement specified an 18-year prison sentence for Young’s pleas of guilty to three pharmacy robberies in the Birmingham metro area and to brandishing a firearm during one of the robberies. Cash and controlled substances, including narcotic painkillers, were taken in all three robberies.
Brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence carries a minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum of life, and the sentence must be served after completion of any other sentence imposed for the crime. Judge Kallon sentenced Young to 11 years in prison for the pharmacy robberies, followed by seven years for brandishing the gun during a robbery.
Young pleaded guilty in August to robbing Moore’s Pharmacy on Ensley Avenue in Birmingham on July 30, 2011; Campbell’s Pharmacy on Veterans Memorial Drive in Adamsville on August 27, 2011; and Helena Hometown Pharmacy on Alabama Highway 17 in Helena on March 13, 2012. He admitted to brandishing a gun during the Helena robbery.
Two co-defendants in the case, Birmingham cousins Willie and Sterling Edwards, pleaded guilty earlier this year to their roles in the pharmacy robberies. Willie Edwards, 40, pleaded guilty to robbing Moore’s Pharmacy and to brandishing a gun during the robbery. Judge Kallon sentenced him in April to 20 years and one month in prison.
Sterling Edwards, 21, pleaded guilty to the Helena Hometown Pharmacy robbery and to a second robbery at Campbell’s Pharmacy on October 13, 2011. He also pleaded guilty to brandishing a gun during the Helena robbery. Judge Kallon sentenced Sterling Edwards in July to 11 years and nine months in prison.
The robbers in all four crimes entered the pharmacies and demanded the narcotics Lortab or Oxycontin, according to court documents.
The FBI and Birmingham, Adamsville, and Helena Police Departments investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph P. Montminy and Robin B. Mark prosecuted the case.

Bank Robber Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison

BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Gregory Steven Horn, age 38, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, today to 18 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and armed bank robbery. Judge Bredar also ordered Horn to pay restitution of $802.50 for counseling for bank employees. Horn was on supervised release at the time of the offense for a 2001 federal bank robbery conviction in Tennessee.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Chief Jeffrey Spaulding of the Westminster Police Department.
According to Horn’s plea agreement, in October 2011, Horn’s half-sister, Kelly Nicole Smith, told Horn that she was having financial problems. Horn suggested that they rob banks together in order to make money, and Smith eventually agreed. On November 2 and December 1, 2011, Horn and Smith attempted to rob banks in Parkville and Reisterstown, Maryland, respectively. In each attempt, Horn provided Smith with a wig and hat to disguise herself, and Smith entered the bank and demanded money from the bank teller, but in each instance left the bank without obtaining any money.
On December 2, 2011, Horn and Smith conspired to rob a third bank, the Farmers and Merchants Bank on Clifton Boulevard in Westminster, Maryland. Horn drove Smith to the bank and directed her to go inside, conduct surveillance to determine the presence of security and whether there was bullet proof glass on the teller station, and then return to the car with a report. Smith did as Horn directed and shortly thereafter, Horn entered the bank wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over his head and a black mask covering his face. Horn demanded money, displaying what appeared to be a small black handgun and placed a black bag on the counter. The teller put the money in the bag, and Horn left, stealing $1,800. Horn and Smith fled in Horn’s vehicle, driven by Horn. Law enforcement attempted to stop the vehicle, but Horn refused to stop. Law enforcement pursued Horn’s vehicle from Carroll County into Frederick County, where Horn threw something—believed to be his weapon—from the car window. Eventually, the vehicle was stopped, and Horn and Smith were arrested. The vehicle was searched, and law enforcement recovered $1,800 stolen from the bank, the hat and wig worn by Smith, and clothing consistent with the clothing worn by Horn and Smith during the robbery of the Farmers and Merchants bank. No firearm was recovered.
Kelly Nicole Smith, age 23, of Middle River, Maryland, pleaded guilty to her role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to two years in prison.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI, Baltimore County Police Department, and the Westminster Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel M. Yasser, who prosecuted the case.

A Byte Out of History Murder and the Dixie Mafia

This month marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, whose deaths at the hands of the so-called Dixie Mafia exposed the lawlessness and corruption that had overtaken Mississippi’s Gulf Coast in the 1980s.
“It was out of control,” said retired Special Agent Keith Bell, referring to the level of corruption in Biloxi and Harrison County—so much so that in 1983 federal authorities would designate the entire Harrison County Sheriff’s Office as a criminal enterprise. Special Agent Royce Hignight initiated the investigation of the sheriff and was soon joined by Bell.

	The ‘Lonely Hearts’ Scam Dixie Mafia inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola were behind a scam that brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ringleader Kirksey McCord Nix—a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without parole—believed that if he raised enough money he could buy his way out of jail. Here’s how the scam worked: Inmates paid guards to use prison telephones. Then they placed bogus ads in homosexual publications claiming they were gay and looking for a new partner to move in with. The men who replied to the return post office box address got additional correspondence and racy pictures. But there was a catch—the scammers told their victims a variety of lies about why they needed money before they could leave where they were. “A lot of money came flowing in,” said retired Special Agent Keith Bell. “There were hundreds of victims.” Men from all walks of life—professors, mail carriers, politicians—fell victim to the scam. “One guy in Kansas mortgaged his house and sent $30,000 to the scammers over a period of months,” Bell recalled. To add insult to injury, some of the inmates writing letters eventually confessed the scam to their victims—and then extorted even more money by threatening to “out” the men if their demands were not met.

“They were doing anything and everything illegal down here,” said Bell, who grew up on the Gulf Coast. “For money, the sheriff and officers loyal to him would release prisoners from the county jail, safeguard drug shipments, and hide fugitives. Anything you can think of, they were involved in.”
Bell is quick to point out that there were plenty of honest officers on the force, and some would later help the FBI put an end to the culture of corruption in Biloxi. But for a long time, Sheriff Leroy Hobbs and his Dixie Mafia associates held sway.
The Dixie Mafia had no ties to La Cosa Nostra. They were a loose confederation of thugs and crooks who conducted their criminal activity in the Southeastern United States. When word got out that Biloxi—with its history of strip clubs and illicit gambling—was a safe haven, the criminals settled in.
At the same time, members of the organization incarcerated at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola were running a “lonely hearts” extortion scam with associates on the street. The scam (see sidebar) targeted homosexuals and brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars—money they entrusted to their lawyer, Pete Halat.
But Halat, who would later become mayor of Biloxi, spent the money. When it came time to hand it over to the crooks, he said the cash had been taken by his former law partner, Vincent Sherry. So the mob ordered a hit on Sherry, a sitting state circuit judge who had no direct ties to the criminals. On September 14, 1987, Sherry and his wife were murdered in their home.
“Gulf Coast residents were shocked by the murders,” Bell said. Local authorities worked the case unsuccessfully for two years. The FBI opened an investigation in 1989, and Bell was assisted in the investigation by Capt. Randy Cook of the revamped sheriff’s office—Leroy Hobbs was convicted of racketeering in 1984 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The federal investigation into the Sherry murders lasted eight years. In the final trial in 1997, Pete Halat was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Kirksey McCord Nix—the Dixie Mafia kingpin at Angola who ordered the hits—as well as the hit man who killed the Sherrys each received life sentences.
As a result of the cases, Bell said, “Gulf Coast citizens started demanding more professional law enforcement and better government.” Bell—who wanted to be an FBI agent since he first watched The FBI television series as a child—added, “It meant a lot to me to return to my home and do something about the corruption that had worked its way into government and law enforcement there.” He added, “The majority of citizens realized that if the FBI had not stepped in, the lawlessness and corruption would likely have continued unabated.”