Man Who Robbed Coventry Liquor Store Gets 10-Year Prison Sentence

COVENTRY, RI — A West Warwick man was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in state prison after he admitted to robbing a Coventry liquor store while armed with a pellet gun in 2021.

Raymond Silva, 56, pleaded guilty on Sept. 7, in Kent County Superior Court to first-degree robbery. Superior Court Justice David Cruise sentenced Silva to 25 years in prison, with 10 years to serve and a 15-year suspended sentence with probation.

Had the case proceeded to trial, prosecutors said they were prepared to prove that on Sept. 18, 2021, Silva stormed into Bill’s Package Store on Main Street in Coventry while wearing a mask. He then pointed a pellet gun at a store clerk and the owner, sprayed them both with pepper spray, and ordered them to get down on the floor as he rifled through the cash register.

Prosecutors said Silva was a former employee of Bill's Package Store.

"Crimes like these are every business owner's worst nightmare," Neronha said. "This disgruntled former employee violently assaulted his former colleagues, stole more than $4,000, and undoubtedly made surrounding communities feel unsafe. The punishment fits the crimes. I am grateful for the collaborative investigative work by both the Coventry and West Warwick police departments and commend the hard work by Special Assistant Attorney General John Malloy for his work on this case."

Prosecutors said the robbery happened around 10:30 p.m., Coventry police received a 911 call from a passerby outside the store who heard a man yelling “"get on the ground."

The store owner and cashier told police they were robbed at gunpoint by a masked robber, later identified as Silva. Besides the pepper spray attack, prosecutors said Silva also threw a wine bottle at the owner. The owner said when Silva threw the bottle, he dropped some of the cash, and when he went to pick it up, he cut himself on broken glass before he escaped through the back door, prosecutors said.

The owner also told police that the robber’s physical appearance and voice resembled that of a former employee.

In Silva's house, West Warwick and Coventry police found a black .177 caliber BB gun, a silver mask covered in blood, gloves covered with blood, two large knives with black handles, and a pellet gun magazine, prosecutors said.

Investigators submitted DNA obtained from the blood collected from the crime scene, the Silva’s kitchen floor, and the center console of the vehicle. All three samples matched the DNA sample collected from the Silva’s buccal swab, prosecutors said.

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