News Release [print friendly page]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2008
Contact: Jodie Underwood
Number: (206) 553-5443

Puyallup Man Pleads Guilty To Pharmacy Robbery

MAY 8 -- (Seattle, WA) – DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Arnold R. Moorin and the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Jeffrey Sullivan, announced that Joseph E. SEIFERT pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to robbing a Walgreen’s Pharmacy in Lakewood, Washington. Pharmacy robbery is a felony offense punishable by up to twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to court records, on February 15, 2008, SEIFERT entered the Walgreen’s Pharmacy located at 9505 Bridgeport Way SW, Lakewood, Washington, for the purposes of robbing the pharmacy. SEIFERT was wearing a disguise to conceal his appearance, to include a lab coat, gloves, a wig, and glasses. SEIFERT approached the pharmacy counter, brandished what appeared to be a handgun and jumped over the pharmacy counter. SEIFERT demanded controlled substances containing oxycodone. The pharmacist complied with SEIFERT’S demands and delivered several bottles of pills containing oxycodone to SEIFERT, which were placed in a black canvas bag. As SEIFERT departed the pharmacy, he was apprehended by law enforcement.

A search of SEIFERT’S black bag resulted in the seizure of several hundred pills of oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance.

SEIFERT is set for sentencing on August 21, 2008 by U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin H. Settle.

This was an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, providing supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Tacoma Police Department.