Spree of Gunpoint Pharmacy Robberies in Va. and Md. Nets District Man a 157-Month Prison Sentence

WASHINGTON - Floyd Neal, 31, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today to more than 13 years in prison for his role in a rash of 2021 gunpoint robberies of pharmacies in Maryland and Virginia, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.

Neal pleaded guilty on March 18, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to three counts of interference with commerce by robbery and aiding and abetting (also known as Hobbs Act robbery). He also pleaded guilty to using, carrying, and possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking offense.

In addition to the 157-month prison term, Judge Berman Jackson ordered Neal to serve five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, on February 14, 2021, Neal and two co-conspirators traveled from the District to a pharmacy in Henrico, Virginia. Neal approached the pharmacy counter, brandished a firearm, and ordered the pharmacist to hand over codeine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone. Neal held one employee at gunpoint while a co-conspirator demanded the pharmacist open the prescription safe. After grabbing prescription narcotics and amphetamines, they fled in a red SUV driven by another co-conspirator.

On March 25, 2021, Neal and a co-conspirator traveled from the District to a pharmacy in Alexandria, Virginia. They entered the store wearing yellow construction vests and posed as customers by grabbing beer. Then the co-conspirator shouted: "Give me all the money," and indicted that he had a firearm. The men then ordered two employees into the store's office before taking between $7,000 to $10,000 from the safe. The men fled in a 2005 silver sedan.

On March 31, 2021, Neal and two co-conspirators drove to a pharmacy in Beltsville, Maryland. A co-conspirator went behind the counter, grabbed a store employee, and demanded the code to the store's safe. While the robbery was in progress, the store's manager entered the store. Neal's co-conspirator forced the store's manager into the back office where Neal was watching the other employee. The co-conspirator forced the manager to open the safe and then stole the contents. Neal remained at the front of the store to empty the contents of the cash registers. The trio then fled in a dark sedan with silver trim.

On April 1, 2021, Neal and a co-conspirator traveled to a pharmacy in Manassas, Virginia. One employee locked herself in the back office. Another employee ran to the front where the co-conspirator grabbed them by the neck. Threatening the employees, Neal ordered them to give him "percocets and oxys" or else he would hurt them. Neal also ordered an employee to open the cash registers. Police arrested Neal and the co-conspirator after they fled the pharmacy. A search revealed a loaded 9mm Hipoint C9 firearm in the vicinity of the pharmacy. Each of the pharmacies robbed by Neal is part of a national chain of retailers and the robberies impacted interstate commerce.

This case was investigated by the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force with valuable assistance from local law enforcement in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Gold and Cameron Tepfer of the District of Columbia.

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