Two Men Sentenced to Prison for Role in Pharmacy Robbery

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Two Yorktown men were sentenced today to a total of nearly 18 years in prison for their respective roles in an armed robbery of a pharmacy.

According to court documents, on Dec. 2, 2014, Derrick Johnson, 25, and Tysean Ransome, 25, entered the Glendale Pharmacy in Newport News and robbed two employees of prescription pills at gunpoint. A third co-conspirator, Johnathan D. Williams, directed Johnson and Ransome to do the robbery.

Johnson was sentenced to nearly eight years, while Ransome was sentenced to 10 years. Williams was sentenced to 14 years on July 8.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), Operation Brim Reaper. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, and Steve R. Drew, Chief of Newport News Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson. Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard J. Zlotnick and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa R. McKeel prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:19-cr-6.