Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 2, 1995 TAG: 9509050023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Because the robberies happened after Jan. 1, Larry W. Burrell will not be eligible for parole, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner said. But he could be released after serving 85 percent of his sentence if he has a good behavior record while incarcerated.
Burrell, 29, has told authorities that his craving for crack was so strong the morning of Feb. 5 that he was up at 6:30 to rob his first store.
All three robberies - first at the Snappy Foodmart on Liberty Road Northeast, then at the Uni-Mart on Franklin Road Southwest and finally the E-Z-N Food Mart on Edgewood Street Southwest - fit the same basic pattern.
Burrell entered the store, told the clerk he had a gun, then forced him or her to lie on the floor or go to a different location before taking cash from the register and fleeing.
Because Burrell forced a clerk into a walk-in freezer during one of the robberies, Circuit Judge Diane Strickland also sentenced him to 20 years for abduction. He won't have to serve that time, however, if he completes a drug treatment program he will enter after his release from prison.
He had faced a maximum sentence of four life terms.
by CNB