A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted to the armed robbery of a convenience store in Jennings in February.
Richard E. Barber, 51, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Barber admitted that on Feb. 11, 2023, he entered the Gas Mart at 9301 Lewis and Clark Boulevard wearing a face mask and a camouflage St. Louis Blues cap. After selecting a beer from the refrigerated section of the store, Barber took it to the register, pulled a pistol, and pointed it at the clerk. Barber then demanded and took cash from the cash registers and left in a Chrysler Sebring.
Early on the morning of Feb. 13, 2023, Barber wrecked the Sebring in the 800 block of North Florissant Road in Ferguson, suffering injuries that required hospitalization. A paramedic noticed a .40-caliber pistol on the car’s floorboard that resembled the one used in the robbery. Investigators later found the hat and face mask Barber wore during the robbery in his car.
At the time of the robbery, Barber was on supervised release after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in 2014 to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 100 months in prison in that case.
Barber is scheduled to be sentenced in April. The robbery charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. The felon in possession charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and the same fine. As part of the plea agreement, both sides have agreed to recommend a total of 20 years in prison.
The St. Louis County Police Department and the Ferguson Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.
