Snow Hill men sentenced to prison for 2016 armed robberies
By From staff reports
Published in News on April 24, 2018 5:50 AM
Two Snow Hill men will spend the next several years in federal prison for two armed robberies committed the same day in Goldsboro in April 2016.
Isiah Kirkman, 24, was sentenced Friday to more than nine years followed by five years supervised release. Malik Thomas, 22, was sentenced to 22 to 98 months ---- that is between less than two and up to as many as 8 years ---- for his role in the crimes.
Thomas will also be under supervised release for five years after his active prison sentence is up.
A Department of Justice press release issued Friday by the office of the U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of North Carolina detailed the indictments under which the two defendants were charged.
According to the indictments, Thomas was identified by police after leaving his cellphone behind at one of the crime scenes. He then named Kirkman after being arrested.
Both men pleaded guilty in January of this year to one count each of interfering with commerce by robbery and aiding and abetting, as well as one count each of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and aiding and abetting.
The robbery in which the guns were fired took place on April 12, 2016, at a Goldsboro Handy Mart.
According to the DOJ, both men wore masks and gloves, carried handguns and threatened to kill the clerk if she did not hand over the money. They both then fired their guns to urge her to hurry.
Kirkman and Thomas got away with $161 in cash and 450 worth of postage stamps.
Police identified Thomas after finding his cellphone at the scene of another robbery, at the First Citizens Bank, earlier that same day.
Thomas was arrested on April 20, 2016, and admitted to his involvement in the robberies. He then named Kirkman as his "armed accomplice," according to the release.
Kirkman was arrested on June 14, 2016, and admitted to his involvement as well. Kirkman told investigators he "needed money to pay bills," and was "willing to do whatever to get some cash."