Two men pleaded guilty in federal court to robbing Springfield jewelry store Maxon’s Diamond Merchants of 11 Rolex watches valued at $118,000.
According to court documents, three men were involved in the Sept. 1, 2016, robbery, but two missed their ride in the getaway car.
Mark Anthone Pitts, 32, and Justin Anderson, 32, both of Detroit, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Rush to the charge contained in a
Dec. 6, 2016, federal indictment, according to a news release from Tom Larson, acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
According to Pitts’ plea agreement, an unknown male was buzzed through the secured front door of the jewelry store. When the male entered the store, he refused to close the front door and employees approached him. When the individual refused to shut the door, the employees attempted to push him out of the store. The male then physically shoved an employee as he kept the front door open.
Pitts and Anderson then entered the store. They pulled out small sledgehammers, causing employees to retreat out of fear of being harmed, according to the release. Pitts and Anderson used the sledgehammers to smash the glass counters and grab Rolex watches before fleeing the store.
According to the release, cellphone video from a store employee showed the getaway car – a 2000 Dodge Stratus that had been stolen from Target earlier that day – waiting for the men. Pitts and Anderson, however, failed to escape in the getaway car, which left the scene without them.
Pitts was arrested after store employees who followed him took police officers to his location.
Pitts told officers he did not specifically threaten an employee of Maxon’s, but if they had actively resisted the robbery, he would have used his sledgehammer to physically assault the employees, according to the release.
Under federal statutes, Pitts and Anderson are each subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Sentencing hearings will be slated after presentence investigations by the U.S. Probation Office.
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