ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah. E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who committed five armed robberies in Missouri and Illinois in 2023 to 34 years in prison.
Ronald O. Perkins, 30, of Black Jack, Missouri, was armed with a handgun, fired multiple shots during one of the robberies and often banged the gun on the counter while demanding money or pointed it at employees, according to evidence and testimony at Perkins’ trial in April.
Perkins first robbed a gas station and convenience store on Riverview Drive in St. Louis on Sept. 8, 2023. He demanded money and then grabbed cash out of the register. He fired several shots when an employee tried to intervene.
On Nov. 8, 2023, Perkins robbed a gas station on Clayton Road in Richmond Heights, stealing cash and a pack of cigarettes.
Less than two hours later, he robbed a 7-Eleven on Hoffmeister Avenue in St. Louis County, stealing cash.
Four days later, he robbed a gas station on Fee Fee Road in St. Louis County.
Five days after that, on Nov. 17, 2023, he robbed a liquor store on St. Louis Road in Collinsville, Illinois, again stealing money from the register.
At trial, jurors saw physical and electronic evidence and surveillance video that showed Perkins was responsible for all five robberies. Officers also recovered the gun that was a ballistic match to the firearm used in the first robbery from Perkins’ pants.
In court Thursday, Judge Pitlyk called the evidence “overwhelming.”
“Use of a firearm during a crime of violence can subject you to a sentence of seven years in prison consecutive to any other charge. In Ronald Perkins’ case, that meant he faced at least 31 years in prison,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Drake. “It’s a very old cliché, but violent crime really does not pay. Perkins fired multiple shots during one of the robberies and held employees at gunpoint. He netted a total of $1,650 from five robberies that left nine innocent employees and two customers terrified and mentally scarred. All of that for what works out to be just pennies for each day that he will spend in prison.”
Jurors in U.S. District Court in St. Louis found Perkins guilty of four counts of robbery, one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, three counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and one count of transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony.
The St. Louis County Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Collinsville Police Department, the Richmond Heights Police Department, the Columbia (Illinois) Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary Bluestone and Tiffany Becker prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
