Queens man sentenced for orchestrating string of 2018 armed pharmacy robberies, including 4 on Long Island
The U.S. District Courthouse in Central Islip. A federal judge there sentenced a Queens man to 14 years in prison Tuesday for planning a string of 2018 robberies with a crew of armed men seeking cash and opioids from pharmacies across the tri-state area, including four on Long Island. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
A federal judge sentenced a Queens man to 14 years in prison Tuesday for planning a string of 2018 robberies with a crew of armed men seeking cash and opioids from pharmacies across the tristate area, including four on Long Island.
United States District Court Judge Joanna Seybert told Jordan Velez, 24, of Flushing, the admitted organizer of the robberies, the sentence is the “best I could do.”
“You are fortunate, sir, in not having someone die in one of these robberies,” Seybert told Velez, who admitted to planning each of the robberies and purchasing the guns used in them. Velez had pleaded guilty to charges of Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence at a hearing in Eastern District Court in 2021.
Prosecutors said each of the robberies took place during a three-month stretch between February and May 2018. Velez was first indicted by a federal grand jury on May 24, 2018, two days after his crew robbed a Walgreens in South Ozone Park, Queens, for the second time.
Four Long Island pharmacies were robbed during the crime spree, including a Walgreens in Bethpage and CVS stores in Valley Stream, Glen Cove and Port Jefferson Station. Three robberies took place in Queens and three more in New Jersey.
Prosecutors said Velez chose the targets, times and dates of each robbery, while also driving the stick-up men to the locations. His crew walked away with more than $216,000 and prescription narcotics, prosecutors said.
In seeking a 16-year prison sentence, prosecutors argued Velez put the lives of store clerks, bystanders, law enforcement officials and even his own crew in jeopardy by orchestrating the robberies.
Surveillance images shared in a sentencing memorandum showed members of Velez’s crew pointing pistols toward a cash register, masks covering their faces. On two occasions, Velez, who was 19 at the time, led police on high-speed chases.
“People need to understand that when you do something like this you will be punished severely,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Misorek told the court prior to sentencing.
In his own pre-sentence memorandum, defense attorney Patrick Brackley of Manhattan sought a 10-year sentence followed by five years post-release supervision, noting that the sentence would still be more time in prison than Velez’s “pistol-packing partners” are serving.
But at Tuesday’s sentencing Seybert noted she “hasn’t done too well” in sentencing the rest of the crew. She said two co-defendants have already been back in court on parole violations in the five years that have passed since they were first arrested.
In a statement, United States Attorney Breon Peace said Velez was "justly punished."
“Jordan Velez recruited and directed a crew of robbers that put our citizens in grave danger when they entered numerous pharmacies wielding their semi-automatic weapons. They stole drugs and money and terrorized many victims,” Peace said.
Brackley said his client’s actions were fueled by drug addiction and a difficult childhood.
Since Velez had been charged under the Hobbs Act, a federal law prohibiting extortion or robbery by wrongful use of force or fear, he faced life in prison if convicted at trial. While Brackley said his client is weighing a possible appeal of the sentence, the attorney expressed gratitude that the sentence was still far less than the 21 years he could have served under federal guidelines.
“He was given a sentence substantially less than the guidelines and less than the government was asking for,” Brackley said.
Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.
