Suspect in Palm Springs, Calimesa pharmacy burglaries, pleads guilty
A man who broke into pharmacies in Palm Springs and Calimesa after hours and stole prescription medication pleaded guilty to grand theft and burglary counts today and was immediately sentenced to five years and four months in state prison.
Johnny Newman, 30, of Los Angeles, committed the break-ins last Sept. 20 at Walgreens stores at 1700 E. Vista Chino and 1186 Calimesa Boulevard.
Newman was arrested along with three other men about two hours after the 1:05 a.m. Palm Springs break-in.
The men were pulled over in a gold Cadillac CTS sedan on the westbound San Bernardino (10) Freeway by a West Covina police officer. Prescription bottles with labels from the pharmacies were found inside the car, according to Palm Springs police Sgt. William Hutchinson. More than 50 bottles of
medication, including Oxycodone and morphine, were recovered, according to court documents.
Co-defendant Marcus Fantroy II, 30, of Whittier, pleaded guilty earlier this year to felony charges of burglary, grand theft and transporting drugs across county lines and was sentenced to one year in county jail, followed by 32 months of mandatory supervision.
Two other co-defendants, Lequan Miller, 28, of Perris, and Jamel Sanders, 33, of Olivehurst, are due in court Aug. 10 for a preliminary hearing.
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