FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TUESDAY - September 6, 2011
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGES
RELATING TO A STRING OF RALEIGH ROBBERIES
RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today ANTONIO A. ABROM, 18, of Garner, North Carolina, pled guilty before Senior United States District Judge W. Earl Britt to conspiring to rob a business in interstate commerce, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951, and using and carrying a firearm during a federal crime of violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c).
According to the Criminal Indictment returned on June 20, 2011, from September 2, 2009, to November 12, 2009, a string of robberies occurred in the Raleigh area in which the same methods were repeatedly used. During the course of the robberies two individuals would enter a store brandishing firearms. One robber would immediately approach the clerk working the register, hold them at gunpoint, and take all the money from the register. The second robber would stand in front of the counter area, provide crowd control, and guard the door. As soon as the register was clear, both men would flee the scene on foot. These robberies included the Texaco Food Mart on Lake Wheeler Road, on September 2, 2009; the Kangaroo Store on Avent Ferry Road, on September 5, 2009; Champion’s Pizza and Wings on Avent Ferry Road, on September 9, 2009; and the CVS Pharmacy on Capital Boulevard, also on September 9, 2009.
The last robbery, which took place on November 12, 2009, at the Priscilla McCall’s Adult Lingerie Store on Western Boulevard, occurred in the evening, when three males, one later identified as ABROM, entered the store. Two clerks were working in the store; one in the back changing area and the other was towards the front of the store. As the clerk in front looked up, ABROM placed a gun in her face, demanding she go to the register. He then demanded money from the cash register. The second clerk came out of the changing room area at this time, and ABROM ordered one of his accomplices to “get her”. ABROM then walked behind the counter and took the money from the register. All three robbers then fled the scene on foot.
This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods(PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.
At sentencing, set for December 5, 2011, ABROM faces up to 20 years' imprisonment for the conspiracy charge and up to a life-term of imprisonment consecutive to any other sentence imposed for the firearms charge.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Raleigh Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jane J. Jackson is prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.
News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.
