Defendant Sentenced to 1,097 Months for Committing Four Armed Robberies in Richmond

RICHMOND, VA—Eric Thompson, a/k/a Derick Cannon, 41, of Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced to 1,097 months’ imprisonment today in U.S. District Court for committing four armed robberies of commercial businesses located in the Richmond, Virginia area. He was also ordered to pay $1,359.37 in restitution. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after the defendant was sentenced by United States District Judge Liam O’Grady.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Thompson committed four armed robberies of Family Dollar Store locations in Richmond, Virginia:

3/9/2010 - Thompson robbed the Family Dollar store at

6401 Jahnke Road, Richmond, Virginia

, with a firearm and stole $207.37.

3/19/2010 - Thompson robbed the Family Dollar store at

1209 Westover Hills Boulevard, Richmond, Virginia

, with a firearm and stole $422.00.

3/24/2010 - Thompson robbed the Family Dollar store at

1220 North 25th Street, Richmond, Virginia

, with a firearm and stole $480.00.

3/26/2010 - Thompson robbed the Family Dollar store at

7 East 16th Street, Richmond, Virginia

, with a firearm and stole $250.00.

The jury convicted the defendant for committing all of these robberies, as well as of using, carrying, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of each robbery.

The jury also found Thompson guilty of unlawfully possessing a Hi-Point, Model 9C, 9mm semi-automatic pistol on March 26, 2010, after he had been previously convicted of a felony offense. The evidence on that count was that on the evening of March 26, 2010, Richmond Police officers attempted to arrest Thompson. As the officers approached Thompson, he ran. After a chase of several blocks, Thompson finally stopped. He then drew a loaded firearm from his waist area and wheeled on an officer who was pursuing him. The officer tackled Thompson, causing the firearm to fly out of his hands. While on the ground, Thompson began to crawl toward the firearm. When the officer grabbed one of his arms, Thompson reached for the firearm with his other arm. It took a second officer to subdue Thompson.

The investigation was conducted by the Richmond Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) under the Cooperative Violence Reduction Partnership (CVRP) Robbery Reduction Initiative. The CVRP is a law enforcement partnership involving the Richmond Police Department, the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, ATF, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Virginia State Police, Virginia Adult Probation and Parole, District 1, the United States Marshal’s Service, The Virginia Commonwealth University Police Department, the Richmond Sheriff’s Office, the Richmond Redevelopment Housing Authority Police Department, and the United States Attorney’s Office. The members of the CVRP work together to identify and address violent crime problems affecting the Richmond Community. The Robbery Reduction Initiative is a collaborative effort to address the robberies in the community and to make sure that offenders face the highest sentence possible under the law, whether that be in state or federal court. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Gill and Stephen Miller prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.

Two locals and a Fed

May 17, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. The website added two local law enforcement officials and one federal law enforcement official.

Randy Dickinson was a full-time officer with the Smith County Sheriff’s Department (Texas) during the 1970s and 1980s. It was while with the Smith County Sheriff’s Department that he became involved in a fatal shooting wherein he and his partner interrupted an armed robbery. This event provided Randy Dickinson with some of the fundamental insight that led him to teaching and writing about trauma mitigation.

Throughout the 1990s, Randy Dickinson was employed by the Austin Police Department in a non-sworn role within the Crisis Response Unit. The unit provides a broad range of services including crisis intervention, suicide intervention, post-incident support for officers and other first-responders, and services to victims and witnesses. Randy Dickinson is a co-author of Officer-Involved Shootings and Use of Force: Practical Investigative Techniques.

According to the book description of Officer-Involved Shootings and Use of Force: Practical Investigative Techniques, it “continues to provide sound and sober models, protocols, and procedures to handle the highly charged fall-out from officer involved shootings. Written by cops for cops, it is designed to address the needs of the agency, the rights of the employee, and the concerns of the public, and give law enforcement the policies and tools to properly investigate and document this high profile area.”

Neville Cramer served more than twenty-six years as a law enforcement officer with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). At the time of his retirement in 2002, he was one of the most experienced INS Special Agents in the U.S. Department of Justice. He began his career in 1976, as a U.S. Border Patrol Agent after serving four years as a police officer in Arizona and Florida. After his tour of duty on the Mexican border, Cramer served eight years as both a Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent in Chicago, Illinois and Washington D.C. District Offices. Neville Cramer is the author of Fixing the INSanity – America’s Immigration Crisis and Immigration Chaos – Solutions to an American Crisis.

According to the book description of Fixing the INSanity – America’s Immigration Crisis, “Former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) special agent Neville Cramer divulges the real causes of America's seemingly uncontrollable immigration problems. He explains the issues, describes common-sense solutions, and shocks the reader with facts about working in the lunacy of the former INS. From the 9/11 attacks to President George W. Bush's Guest Worker Program, Cramer covers it all . . . and then some.”

Kevin Ferguson is a retired Deputy Sheriff Richmond City Sheriff’s Office. He was injured on the job assisting a co-worker. The injury left him with two plates and twelve screws in his right arm; and, six pins in his wrist. Kevin Ferguson is the author of Generosity or Justice.

According to the book description, “This book is based on a true story about a Deputy Sheriff who was injured and wrongly accused of an incident while on duty. Terminated from a 14-year career, he was forced to prove his innocence and clear his name.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 1002 police officers (representing 421 police departments) and their 2113 police books in 32 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.