Mt. Airy Brothers Exiled to 9 Years and over 7 Years in Prison For the Armed Robbery of a Pharmacy
Also Admitted to Three Additional Pharmacy Burglaries Committed in One Month
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Jacob Nathanael Norwood, age 24, and brother Seth Daniel Norwood, age 22, both of Mt. Airy, Maryland, today to nine years in prison and 94 months in prison, respectively, each followed by three years of supervised release, for the armed robbery of a pharmacy in Middletown, Maryland, and brandishing a gun during a crime of violence. Judge Hollander also ordered that the Norwoods must forfeit the gun used in the armed robbery and $2,284, the value of the drugs they stole.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Acting Special Agent in Charge Debbie D. Bullock of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Frederick County Sheriff Charles A. “Chuck” Jenkins.
According to their plea agreements and court documents, Jacob and Seth Norwood committed an armed robbery on December 29, 2010 of a pharmacy in the 4300 block of Old National Pike in Middletown, Maryland, wearing ski masks and black jackets. Jacob Norwood, carrying a. .357 caliber handgun, and Seth Norwood, carrying a replica black powder pistol, rushed behind the counter. Seth Norwood held one of the employees down on the floor at gunpoint. Jacob Norwood took the other employee by the arm and shoved her to the back of the pharmacy, where he ordered her to take bottles of oxycontin off the shelves, along with several hundreds of dollars in cash out of the cash register, and dump them into a trash bag.
The brothers then left the pharmacy, refused to stop when encountered by law enforcement and initiated a high-speed car chase before crashing into a creek in a local public park. The defendants were arrested and the trash bag containing 2,408 oxycodone pills of various strengths; the .357 caliber revolver and .44 caliber black powder revolver used during the robbery; and $429.50 in cash was seized, along with two black jackets and ski masks.
Following their arrests, the brothers admitted to committing three additional pharmacy break-ins, each time wearing ski masks and gloves. On November 27, 2010, they broke into the King’s Pharmacy located at 7627 Woodbine Road, Woodbine, Maryland by smashing the front picture window using a pick axe and a sledgehammer, resulting in approximately $1,800 worth of losses in damage and stolen property. They fled with approximately 1,000 Triazolam pills, 700-800 hydrocodone pills, 600 clarithromycin pills and 500-600 citalopram pills.
On December 20, 2010, the Norwoods broke through the front glass and entered the Green Valley Pharmacy located at 11791 Fingerboard Road, Monrovia, Maryland. Surveillance cameras captured their actions. They stole over $3,620 worth of controlled substances.
Finally, on December 25, 2010, the defendants broke a window and entered the Medicine Plus Pharmacy located at 11717 Old National Pike, Unit 14, New Market, Maryland. Again, surveillance cameras captured their actions. The brothers stole approximately $150 and $250 worth of controlled substances.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF and Frederick County Sheriff’s Office for their work in this investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Sujit Raman, who prosecuted the case.
