RIDGELAND, SC (July 25, 2017) – A former North Carolina man who robbed a Ridgeland convenience store at gunpoint in 2016 has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
James Lamonte Anderson, 24, formerly of Laurinburg, NC, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of armed robbery. The EZ Stop IV at 80 Blue Heron Drive in Ridgeland was robbed at gunpoint April 19, 2016.
A white man entered the convenience store, pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money. The clerk attempted unsuccessfully to talk the suspect out of the robbery, reminding him that there were surveillance cameras. The clerk ended up handing over $760 in cash. Surveillance videos showed the suspect approaching the store and smoking a cigarette outside. The suspect then entered the store and robbed it. Ridgeland
Ridgeland Police officers recovered the cigarette butt for testing and it matched to the defendant, who had been convicted in 2012 of breaking into vehicles and larceny.
In addition to the Ridgeland convenience store robbery, Anderson has also been linked to four armed robberies in Georgia, for which he has received a 40-month federal sentence.
Anderson was arrested in September 2016 in Florida.
“Within the first two minutes of being interviewed by Sgt. Chris McIntosh of the Ridgeland Police Department, James Anderson admitted to committing all of the armed robberies,” said Assistant Solicitor Patrick Hall.
Circuit Court Judge Perry M. Buckner handed down Tuesday’s sentence.
