LS man sentenced for
pharmacy robberies

BY CHUCK TUCK | JOURNAL REPORTER At a court hearing last week, 24-year-old Lake Stevens resident, Dale MacDonald was sentenced to more than six years in a federal prison.

He was also ordered to pay over $65,000 in restitution for his part in a rash of pharmacy burglaries that stretched over four states.

MacDonald was involved with five other Snohomish County residents including one Snohomish County individual who was named as a principal distributor of the stolen drugs.

The number of burglaries stretching over the four states was high enough to rank Washington at the top as having the worst nighttime pharmacy burglaries in the country during the period of the robberies.

Waiving his right to a trial by jury, MacDonald pleaded guilty in March of this year to felony information charging him on three counts.

The plea agreement was entered into by MacDonald and his attorney with the U.S. represented by Jeffrey C. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Douglas B. Whalley, and Ronald J. Friedman, Assistant United States Attorneys, for said District.

The three counts to which MacDonald plead guilty to were conspiracy to burglarize pharmacies in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2118(b) and (d); burglary of a pharmacy in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2118(b); and distribution of oxycodone in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841 (a)(1) and 841 (b)(1)(C).

Each one of the charges carried a prison term of up to 10 years on the first count, and up to 20 years each on counts two and three with fines as high as one million dollars on the distribution count.

MacDonald’s involvement in the burglaries was considered minimal however; the shear number of burglaries which was in excess of 20 was such that it warranted a higher possible sentence than others who were involved with either assisting or committing the burglaries.

Court documents said that the crimes committed were done in common fashion either in the late evenings, or early morning hours when the pharmacies were closed.

The document further read that phone lines were cut to disable the alarm system.

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