DATE: Saturday, September 6, 1997           TAG: 9709060336

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   42 lines

CONVICTED ROBBERS GOING TO PRISON FOR LONG TERMS

A former fast-food manager who, with a partner, embarked on a spree of commando-style armed robberies of restaurants was sentenced to nearly 300 years in prison after a trial that didn't end until 11:30 p.m. Thursday.

The partner was sentenced to 99 years.

Prosecutor Cynthia Shepherd called the duo ``urban terrorists'' for the confrontational method they used to rob at least a half-dozen fast-food restaurants during a four-month spree that ended with their arrests in August 1996.

Shepherd said nearly all the robberies bore the same trademarks. The duo wore masks, carried guns, locked employees in walk-in coolers, ordered the managers to empty the stores' safes, then picked through the managers' purses.

Many of the victims ``were women getting up early to make biscuits,'' Shepherd said. ``They didn't need this. These robberies happened more than a year ago and they were still shaking when they talked about it.''

A jury convicted 27-year-old Thaddeus Eley and 32-year-old Ronald Anderson of three of the robberies Thursday. Eley had been convicted of two previous robberies, and the pair still face trial for two other robberies.

Eley had been a McDonald's manager before he began robbing the restaurants. Police said he used his knowledge of how fast-food stores operate to plan the best times and methods for the crimes.

The robbers were caught after a motorist noticed them running from an Arby's restaurant to a car and jotted down their license number. When she saw police streaming to the restaurant, she gave them the license number and they traced the car to Eley. Police were looking for Eley when another robbery happened Aug. 1, 1996. They caught him and Anderson, who were roommates, at their home.

Eley robbed two fast-food managers in May 1996. He was caught but was allowed to post bail. Then, Shepherd said, ``he went on a rampage.''

The jury on Thursday sentenced him to 282 years for three robberies. He had earlier been sentenced to 41 years for the May robberies.

Shepherd said Eley expressed relief because he wasn't sentenced to life in prison. But under Virginia's no-parole policy, Eley will never be released. KEYWORDS: ROBBERY ARREST TRIAL CONVICTION

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