A Pottstown Man Gets Close To A Decade In Prison For Philly Pharmacy Gunpoint Robbery

POTTSTOWN, PA — A local man will be spending nearly a decade in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to a November 2021 gunpoint robbery of a Rite-Aid pharmacy on the border of Philadelphia and Montgomery County.

Patrick Harrison, 39, of Pottstown, was handed sentence Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Chad F. Kenney for the Nov. 18, 2021, armed robbery of the Rite-Aid along City Avenue in Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Harrison had pleaded guilty to an indictment back in March that charged him with Hobbs Act robbery; carrying, using and brandishing a firearm during the commission of a violent crime; and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to federal prosecutors.

At the time of the robbery, prosecutors stated, Harrison displayed a gun and demanded money from pharmacy employees, after which he fled the store with about $600 in stolen cash.

"Mr. Harrison threatened the lives of employees in this pharmacy with a loaded weapon and stole $600, and for that crime he will now spend nearly a decade in prison," U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said in a statement. "Repeat offenders who commit reckless violent crimes like this defendant will soon face serious federal charges and years in prison."

The Hobbs Act is a federal statute that involves armed robbery of businesses that deal in interstate commerce, such as financial institutions and pharmacies.

The U.S. government often charges defendants in federal court in cases involving such robberies.