Walgreen’s pharmacy armed robber sentenced

The man convicted of robbing the Ballard Walgreen’s pharmacy at gunpoint a little more than a year ago was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison.

“You’ve got to work on the drug addiction and the mental health issues. … When you get out of prison, if you don’t stay clean and sober (the federal probation officer) will snatch you out of your shoes and you’ll be right back here,” the judge told Jacob Harley Shook.

Shook, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman, who also gave him five years of supervised release, for two counts of pharmacy robbery, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Shook was originally charged in state court, but asked to have his case transferred to federal court so that he could take advantage of drug treatment and rehabilitation offerings in federal prison and with the federal probation system.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in a release, stated:

According to records filed in the case, on December 21, 2009 and December 29, 2009, SHOOK robbed two North Seattle pharmacies at gunpoint. In the first robbery, of the Maple Leaf Pharmacy on Roosevelt Way, SHOOK shoved one pharmacy assistant to the floor with the barrel of his gun. Then he pulled another assistant to her feet, stuck a semi-automatic pistol in her back and ordered her to give him oxycodone. SHOOK pointed the gun at the pharmacist and demanded a bag for the drugs he was stealing: Morphine Sulfate, Hydromorphone, Oxycontin, Meperefab and Oxycodone. At the second robbery, of a Walgreens Pharmacy on 15th Avenue NW, SHOOK pointed his gun at the pharmacist’s head and demanded Oxycontin. Because the drug was locked in a time release safe that could not be accessed, the pharmacist convinced SHOOK to take other drugs: Morphine Sulfate, Percocet, and Tylox.

SHOOK was arrested later on the 29th during a traffic stop. Officers recognized SHOOK’s tattoos as matching those on the pharmacy robber. After a foot chase, SHOOK was arrested hiding in a garage. The gun used in the robberies as well as some of the drugs were recovered.

Since 2000, Shook has had 14 felony convictions; seven of them are for possession of stolen property, and three are for car theft. He also has convictions for burglary, writing bad checks and eluding police officers. In 1998 he was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Colasurdo told the court: “As two of the victim pharmacists expressed in their letters. … Shook’s actions during the course of the robberies changed their lives forever and it is safe to assume that the same is true for the other victims and witnesses as well.”