St. Louis County Felon Indicted for Store Robbery

Criminal Prosecution

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The following press release was published by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys on May 4. It is reproduced in full below.

ST. LOUIS - A convicted felon from St. Louis County, Missouri was indicted by a federal grand jury here Wednesday and accused of robbing a convenience store at gunpoint.

Richard E. Barber, 51, is now facing three felonies: robbery, possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The indictment alleges that Barber used a firearm to rob a Gas Mart in north St. Louis County on Feb. 11, 2023. Barber is a convicted felon and is barred from possessing a gun.

A detention motion says Barber entered the store and took a beer from the refrigerator before pulling a pistol and calmly ordering the cashier to empty the cash register. Two days later, a pistol resembling the one used in the robbery was recovered after Barber wrecked his car. The robbery was captured on video, the motion says.

The robbery charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both and the felon in possession of a firearm charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years and the same fine. The firearm brandishing charge carries a penalty of at least seven years in prison.

Barber was on supervised release at the time of the robbery after having been sentenced in 2014 to serve 100 months in federal prison on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is also facing charges of robbery and armed criminal action in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys

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