NEPTUNE, NJ — A member of a violent crew that robbed the Walgreens on Rt. 33 in Neptune six years ago was found guilty Nov. 5.
Federal prosecutors say Deaundre Blount, 33, a Washington, D.C. resident, was a member of a crew that "terrorized pharmacy employees from Virginia to New Jersey," said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Prosecutors say they researched pharmacies that were open all night and, on May 9, 2020, they drove more than 200 miles from Washington, D.C. to the Neptune Walgreens.
At 3:09 a.m., three men, one of which was Blount, dressed in masks and gloves entered the Walgreens. All three jumped over the pharmacy counter and demanded codeine, Adderall and Percocet. One man grabbed the night pharmacist and demanded that he open the locked cabinets containing additional pills. After grabbing thousands of prescription pills— including Oxycodone, morphine, amphetamine and Nucynta — they fled in a black Nissan Altima driven by a fourth man, the getaway driver.
At one point, the Nissan collided with a responding Neptune Police officer's patrol car but continued at high speed back to Washington D.C.
No arrests were made that night.
After returning to the District, they celebrated at a hotel and one of the crew members received a text from a known drug dealer asking the pricing on one of the drugs stolen from the Neptune Walgreens. The men continued to exchange texts about the drug sale for the following weeks, said federal prosecutors.
The crew robbed pharmacies and cell phone retail stores up and down the mid-Atlantic region from May 2020 through May 2021, say the feds. In all the robberies, they stole prescription drugs and cellphones, which they then re-sold in Washington, D.C.
They showed guns in some but not all of the robberies. They did not show a gun in the robbery of the Neptune Walgreens.
Blount was found guilty for his role in three robberies:
Blount was found guilty of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act Robbery), conspiracy to distribute drugs obtained during the pharmacy robberies and three individual counts of Hobbs Act Robbery, a federal crime.
He will be sentenced March 2, 2027.
Multiple other members of this robbery crew have already have been sentenced. Co-leader, Ashley Gause, 33, also of D.C., was sentenced to 140 months in prison and co-leader D'Marrell Mitchell, 36, of D.C., was sentenced to 192 months in prison. All the men convicted are listed here: justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/member-violent-crew-targeted-mid-atlantic-pharmacies-and-cell-phone-stores-found-guilty
"Today's guilty verdict demonstrates that if you're in a predatory crew you will be identified, prosecuted and brought to justice," said Pirro, appointed by President Donald Trump.
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