Staff Report

A Virginia man has received a four-year penitentiary sentence on burglary charges.

George Anthony Carroll Jr., 31, of Rose Hill, Va., was convicted in the Lee County Circuit Court for his role in the recent burglary of the Rose Hill Pharmacy and theft of prescription medication from the pharmacy.

According to a press release, the commonwealth’s evidence established that on June 18, Travis and Tracy Lawson, owners of the pharmacy, reported that someone had broken into their business during the night by busting through the drive-through window. The investigation determined that over 9,000 prescription pills were stolen with a value of over $3,500.

The pharmacy is equipped with modern video security equipment and sheriff’s investigators positively identified Carroll as the perpetrator, the release said.

The release also noted the video showed Carroll spending several minutes walking around the pharmacy just before 2 a.m. He then began to forcefully kick a door to the pharmacy, but could not dislodge the door. At one point, Carroll took a break, sits down on a grassy bank behind the pharmacy and makes a call on his cell phone.

Carroll then walked back over to the building and relieved himself on the side of the pharmacy, according to the release. He then turned his attention to the drive-through window and eventually forced the window open. Carroll crawled through the window carrying a large garbage bag and began to fill it with bottles of prescription medication. The video shows Carroll exit the pharmacy and ran off carrying the full garbage bag, the press release states.

When located by the sheriff’s investigators, Carroll confessed to breaking into the pharmacy and stealing the medication. According to the release, he claimed he and another individual had planned the burglary for the purpose of stealing medication.

During the sentencing hearing on Friday, Commonwealth’s Attorney Shawn Hines argued that the court should sentence Carroll to more time than called for under the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines. The guidelines called for a top range of four years, four months.

The commonwealth argued the crime itself had caused a lot of disruption and hardship upon the Lawsons. Further, as a result of the crime, the Lawsons faced additional costs in repairing the damage caused to their business and increasing security even more.

Hines pointed out that Carroll had previously committed a burglary in Lee County and the court placed him on probation rather than send him to prison. He also noted that Carroll had violated his probation and also been convicted of another felony offense for possessing drugs while an inmate.

The court declined to sentence beyond the sentencing guidelines. The court sentenced Carroll to serve 10 years in the Virginia Department of Corrections on each of his four convictions: breaking and entering, conspiracy to break and enter, grand larceny and conspiracy to commit grand larceny. The judge then suspended six years of each of those sentences and ordered that the four convictions run concurrently.

The court also placed Carroll on six years of supervised probation and ordered him to pay $3,747.90 in restitution to the victims. Carroll must attend the SECOR program following his release from prison and remain drug and alcohol free.