Pharmacy Robbery Defendant Pleads Guilty

DAYTON – Eric Lamont Bates, 20, of Indianapolis, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court yesterday to one count of aiding and abetting the robbery of a pharmacy in Middletown, Ohio and possessing with the intent to distribute morphine and oxycodone.

Bates is one of 11 total defendants in three current federal pharmacy robbery indictments in Dayton. He faces up to 20 years imprisonment for each crime.

Benjamin C. Glassman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division and Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw announced the plea entered into today before U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice.

In May, a federal grand jury returned indictments charging individuals with robbing two Middletown pharmacies and stealing prescription drugs including morphine, oxycodone and hydrocodone for the purpose of selling the drugs on the street.

The grand jury charged two Dayton men, Calvin Cavonte Tribble and Savon Anthony Davis, with attempted robbery of a pharmacy in Middletown on April 18, 2017 and robbing the pharmacy on April 19.

In a separate indictment, the grand jury alleged that two Indianapolis men, Bates and Yasar Jamal Burnett, conspired to rob another Middletown pharmacy of morphine and oxycodone on April 29, 2017. Burnett also recently pleaded guilty to the same charges as Bates.

In July, a 10-count superseding indictment added six defendants who also allegedly conspired to rob pharmacies between March and June 2017 in Fairfield, Middletown, Franklin, Hamilton, Westerville,

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Trotwood, Dayton, Oakwood, Kettering, Beavercreek, Moraine, Vandalia, Union Township and Cincinnati.

It was part of the alleged conspiracy that defendants would approach the pharmacy counter at CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and Best Pharmacy locations as if to turn in a prescription to be filled. In actuality, the slip of paper included a note that this was an armed robbery and the pharmacist would be harmed if they did not comply. The note demanded pharmacy employees to fill two bags with a list of controlled substances identified by name, amount and prescription dosage.

Those charged in the superseding indictment include Martez Henderson, Tiwonne Montgomery, Kenneth Evans, Jr., Brandon Freeman, David Harris and Jamar Warren.

In September, Jamie Deandre Williams was charged in a five-count indictment for allegedly robbing CVS pharmacies in Beavercreek, Sidney, Moraine, Cincinnati and Dayton between February and June 2017.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative investigation of this case by the Middletown Police and the FBI, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy M. Smith and Brent Tabacchi, who are representing the United States in the case.