Man Gets 12 Years For Mt Airy Corner Store Armed Robbery

EAST MT. AIRY, PHILADELPHIA — A dozen-year prison sentence was handed down to a man who robbed an East Mount Airy business using a gun back in March 2019.

Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said Donnie Smith, 41, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 12 years and three months in prison, and five years of supervised release for Hobbs Act robbery, carrying and using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, and illegally possessing a weapon as a convicted felon.

The charges stem from an armed robbery of a corner grocery store in the East Mount Airy section of Philadelphia in March 2019.

In February 2020, the defendant and two co-defendants, Abid Stevens and Maurice Quinn, were convicted on all charges after trial.

During the incident, Quinn entered RD Grocery and complained to a store employee that the store’s ATM had given him fake money. Quinn then attempted to grab both money from the register and a firearm kept by the owner behind the counter.

Unable to grab the money or firearm, Quinn left and returned with Smith and Stevens, both of whom were armed with black semi-automatic handguns.

Smith brandished his firearm in the store employee’s face and took the firearm from behind the counter. Quinn then again attempted to take cash from the register but failed. He demanded that the store employee open the register for him; the employee withdrew $100 in cash and the defendants left.