Man Sentenced For 2017 Armed Mt Airy Bar Robbery

MT. AIRY, PHILADELPHIA — A 13-year prison sentence has been handed down to a man who robbed a Mt. Airy bar at gunpoint in February 2017, federal authorities said.

Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said Lawrence Laws, 29, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 13 years in prison and five years of supervised release for committing Hobbs Act robbery, which is robbery which interferes with interstate commerce, and using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Laws and two others targeted the Mermaid Bar on Germantown Avenue in Mt. Airy back in February 2017.

Authorities said Laws and two others laid in wait for the bar's owner as he closed for the night.

As the owner and a bartender went to their vehicles, they saw one of the robbers inside a vehicle and ran off. The owner and bartender saw one of the robbers holding what appeared to be an AK-47 rifle.

Laws and the other men chased the owner and bartender and ordered them to the ground.

They then forced the victims back into the bar at gunpoint then stole a firearm, cash, cartons of cigarettes, and a cell phone.

Testimony at trial detailed how the defendants first took money from the bar owner’s pockets, money from the cash register, and a firearm hidden behind the bar, before two of the robbers forced the elderly business owner to the basement to steal money hidden there.

When the owner initially resisted, Laws pointed a gun to his head, threatened to kill him, and also threatened to go to his home if he did not comply with their demands.

While in the basement, one of the robbers took the owner’s debit card and PIN, which they used to make multiple cash withdrawals from the bank ATM across the street before fleeing the scene together.

Laws's co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to charges related to this incident.