BANGOR, Maine — A local man pleaded guilty Thursday to robbing a Bangor pharmacy on Sept. 30.
During his arraignment at the Penobscot Judicial Center, John C. Campbell, 35, of Bangor pleaded guilty to one count of robbery and one count of theft by unauthorized taking, according to the Penobscot County district attorney’s office.
Two other men, Jeffrey M. Macy, 46, of Eastbrook and Kirk DePhilippo Jr., 24, of Bangor, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from pharmacy robberies on Sept. 30 and Oct. 7, respectively, of the same Bangor Rite Aid, located at Union and Fourteenth streets.
Campbell was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison with all but 2½ years suspended for robbing the pharmacy at the Hannaford supermarket on Union Street in Bangor of oxycodone. He also was sentenced to three years of probation.
In a plea agreement with prosecutors, a second robbery count lodged in connection with the robbery of the Brewer Rite Aid that occurred 45 minutes before the Bangor robbery was dismissed, Michael Roberts, deputy district attorney for Penobscot County, said after the plea and sentencing hearing.
Campbell was arrested Oct. 7 after he stepped off a Greyhound bus in Bangor to find police waiting for him. He had been held at the Penobscot County Jail unable to make bail since then.
He fled the city Sept. 30 shortly after the Hannaford robbery, according to a previously published report. Campbell told detectives he stole drugs to feed his opiate addiction. He said he was unemployed and didn’t have access to health care.
The theft charge stemmed from Campbell’s taking a 2010 Toyota Scion from its owner under “circumstances that weren’t exactly what he portrayed them to be,” Brewer Public Safety Director Perry Antone said in October.
The Scion was recovered undamaged Oct. 2 in New Jersey, where Campbell was pulled over for driving with a suspended license, arrested and then allowed to make bail.
Information about the status of the New Jersey charges was unavailable late Thursday.
DePhilippo was arrested about noon Oct. 15 and charged with robbery. The Rite Aid located at the corner of Union and Fourteenth streets was robbed Oct. 7, and three people were handcuffed and taken into custody about an hour later at 27 Webster Ave. North, according to a previously published report. Only one of them, Jr., 28, of Dover-Foxcroft, was arrested. He pleaded not guilty to robbery last month.
Police have said DePhilippo drove the getaway car. He was arrested after a Bangor police detective spotted him at Fairmount Market a week after the robbery.
Court documents state that Harmon told police he committed the robbery to pay off a drug debt to DePhilippo.
In addition to the robbery charge, Macy pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of criminal operating under the influence, unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, aggravated criminal mischief and refusing to submit to arrest in connection with the Sept. 30 robbery of the Rite Aid at Union and Fourteenth streets in Bangor.
Macy was arrested on the 18th hole of Bangor Municipal Golf Course, where he had fled in a gold 1995 Pontiac Bonneville, according to a previous report.
The cases involving Macy, Harmon and DePhilippo were placed on the January trial list, Roberts said Thursday. All three remained Thursday night at the Penobscot County Jail unable to make bail.
All four men were charged with Class B robbery, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. None of the defendants brandished weapons during the robberies, according to court documents.
2 1/2 years? What a joke. We need a judge who will give these criminals the maximum sentence. That way they will have the time to take advantage of the drug program.
Mugshots can be so entertaining!
Good looking group of fine outstanding citizens.
I hope they can shake their bad habits.
I hope they overdose and …
Yeah, with such short sentences for armed robbery it makes the risk/reward pretty appealing to a desperate junkie. C’mon, I know we don’t have the prison room to give all of these scumbags a decade, but could we give a few a decade? Geez.
“None of the defendants brandished weapons during the robberies, according to court documents”
So what now, the other three get to blame it all on Campbell and get even less time? Robbing a pharmacy, along with the added charges involved, is worth 8 to 15 in most NE states — do most of the bottom number, son, and talk to the parole board about the balance in about seven years. The old “I was addicted to opiates”, malarkey only flies so far — passable for a possession change — but it’s a sketchy excuse for putting others in fear and taking stuff from people. .
UNREAL! 2-1/2 year!? So your saying these scum bags will be out in about 13 months more then likely for good behavior…? For the amount of money I pay in taxes to the state every year, these scum bags should be locked up for minimum of Ten years, rather then being repeat offenders once they get out. Why doesn’t Maine’s justice system grow a set and start adopting Texas style prison sentences. For Armed Robbery in Texas you will serve minimum of two years and up to twenty, thats if no one is hurt…
With Maines “good time ” law he will do 25 months IF he follows the rules…..he cant and wont follow them out here so he will more than likely do the full 2 1/2 . That lite of a sentence is nothing more than a JOKE !! My brother got nabed for driving after suspension H.O. and he got 4 years with NONE suspended. Thats OUR justice system folks !!
Two and a half years? Good thing he didn’t light up a joint on his way out!