Jury convicts Ohio felon in connection to armed robberies at pharmacies including Bridgeville, Pittsburgh

A federal jury has convicted an Ohio man accused of armed robbery at one pharmacy in the Buckeye State and five in Western Pennsylvania, including in Pittsburgh and Bridgeville.

Abdulrahman Abdelaziz Jamea, 26 and formerly of Columbus, Ohio, was found guilty on three counts of conspiracy to commit armed pharmacy robbery, two counts of pharmacy robbery and one count each of conspiracy to commit armed pharmacy robbery and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh announced Friday.

Evidence in the four-day trial, held before U.S. Senior District Judge Arthur J. Schwab, showed that Jamea participated in a conspiracy to rob pharmacies of opioids and stimulants between September 2018 and July 2019, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office. Nineteen people testified throughout the hearing.

The conspiracy included robberies of pharmacies in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, Beaver, Bridgeville, Edinboro and Erie.

During three of the robberies, Jamea and two co-conspirators showed a firearm to threaten employees and coerce them into opening locked safes where the controlled substances were being kept.

Jamea distributed the stolen narcotics in the Columbus area, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The other two men — Mohammed Jibril and Arthur Lee Worthy, both of Ohio — pleaded guilty in 2019 to charges of conspiracy to commit armed pharmacy robbery, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and armed pharmacy robbery, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In connection with their guilty plea, the court was advised that Jamea was the leader of orchestrated pharmacy robberies in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Jamea recruited other people, including Jibril and Worthy, to rob pharmacies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Affected stores included the CVS Pharmacy on Centre Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, the Rite Aid on Chartiers Street in Bridgeville, the CVS Pharmacy on Erie Street in Edinboro, the Rite Aid on Third Street in Beaver, the CVS Pharmacy on Pine Avenue in Erie and the Rite Aid in Marietta, Ohio.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 31.

Jamea currently is serving a prison sentence of more than 40 years following his earlier conviction in Ohio state court for multiple counts of felony assault with a firearm. He remains in custody pending his sentencing for this case.