ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 15, 1997 TAG: 9704150088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK THE ROANOKE TIMES
Goodrich pleaded guilty to four robbery charges and one charge of using a firearm.
A 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty Monday to robbing four Roanoke convenience stores in a quest for money to buy new clothes and drugs.
Keith L. Goodrich of Roanoke, who got about $1,000 in spending money from the robberies, could now get up to life in prison.
As part of a plea agreement reached in Roanoke Circuit Court, Goodrich pleaded guilty to four robbery charges and one charge of using a firearm. In return, prosecutors agreed to drop a fifth robbery charge against him.
After accepting the agreement, Judge Richard Pattisall scheduled a June 30 sentencing hearing.
Goodrich has told police that he and a friend robbed the stores last August to get money for marijuana and clothes to wear for the new school year, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony said.
After donning blaze-orange ski masks, Goodrich and 17-year-old Robert Addison used either a stick or a handgun to demand money from convenience store clerks.
Three of the robberies - of the Turbo Food Mart on Plantation Road Northeast, the Uni-Mart on Jefferson Street Southwest and the 7-Eleven on Grandin Road Southwest - happened within six hours the morning of Aug.16. Twenty-four hours later, the Express Mart on Orange Avenue was robbed.
After Addison was arrested after the Express Mart robbery, Goodrich went out on his own the night of Aug. 21 and robbed the Snappy Food Mart in Northeast Roanoke, Anthony said.
Earlier this year, Addison was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in the robberies.
Goodrich, who was 16 at the time of the robberies, was tried as an adult under new laws that target violent juvenile offenders. He was returned to the Roanoke City Jail after Monday's hearing to await sentencing.
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