Floyd Neal, the man behind a harrowing series of gunpoint pharmacy robberies in Virginia and Maryland, has admitted to his crimes. The 32-year-old from Washington D.C. pleaded guilty to a spree that had rattled communities in both states in 2021. According to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Neal copped to three counts of Hobbs Act robbery and one count concerning the use of a firearm in a drug trafficking crime. These guilty pleas were entered before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson on March 18, 2024, with his sentencing set for June 21, 2024, as reported by the Department of Justice.
Digging into the court documents reveals a daring and dangerous crime wave. On Valentine's Day 2021, Neal and his accomplices descended upon a Henrico, Virginia pharmacy. In a scene ripped from a heist movie, Neal brandished a firearm and demanded opioids from a petrified pharmacist. The robbery squad made off with a bounty of codeine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and amphetamines. Within a matter of weeks, Neal escalated the operation with hold-ups in Alexandria and Beltsville, employing everything from construction vests as disguises to a deadly threat presence to loot cash and narcotics.
However, Neal's spree came to a grinding halt on April 1, when an attempted robbery in Manassas, Virginia, went awry. Police nabbed Neal and his partner after they threatened pharmacy employees and demanded "percocets and oxys". A 9mm Hipoint C9 firearm was found on Neal during the arrest, sealing his fate further. The string of robberies, all aimed at national pharmacy chains, were deemed a disruption to interstate commerce, thereby justifying the federal hammer coming down on Neal. The charges carry a weighty maximum sentence, with each count of Hobbs Act robbery punishable by up to 20 years and the firearms charge offering the grim prospect of a life sentence.
The FBI Violent Crimes Task Force spearheaded the investigation, with a network of local law enforcement from Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., collecting the puzzle pieces that would eventually corner Neal. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Gold and Cameron Tepfer are leading the charge in prosecution, underscoring the seriousness with which the government views such acts of brazen criminality. While Neal awaits his final judgment, these communities can hope that one chapter of this violent saga has closed, offering a salve against the wounds of fear it inflicted. Further details are available through the DOJ's official announcement.
