RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Richmond man is the first of three co-defendants to be sentenced for their involvement in two armed robberies that occurred in 2022.
According to court documents, 41-year-old Ricardo Horne of Richmond was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his involvement in two armed robberies.
On April 17, 2022, Horne and his co-defendant — 40-year-old Michael Brown of Richmond — robbed the Family Dollar located at 7 East 16th St. As an employee was emptying trash prior to opening the store, Horne and Browne grabbed him and held him at gunpoint. Brown — holding a semiautomatic pistol that belonged to his sister — escorted the employee to a safe inside the store.
(Photos courtesy of the United States Court for the Eastern District of Virginia) 
(Photos courtesy of the United States Court for the Eastern District of Virginia) 
(Photos courtesy of the United States Court for the Eastern District of Virginia) 
(Photos courtesy of the United States Court for the Eastern District of Virginia)
While Brown emptied the safe, Horne stood watch and handled crowd control of a customer and another employee inside the store. Together, Brown and Horne stole approximately $10,000 from the store, which they then used to buy high-end shoes at a boutique.
Prior to the second robbery, Horne and Brown encouraged a third co-defendant — 38-year-old Rashanda Booker of Richmond — to purchase a new pistol for the second robbery. Booker bought the pistol on April 22, 2022.
On April 28, 2022, Horne and Brown robbed the Dollar General at 3903 Walmsley Blvd. Brown entered the store carrying the semiautomatic pistol bought by Booker. Horne grabbed control of one of the employees and both robbers took her to find the store’s manager to open the safe. Brown then held the manager at gunpoint near the safe as Horne stayed with the other employee.
Several customers, including a woman and her young son, were shopping in the store at the time of the robbery. Browne and Horne then exited the store and Booker drove them away from the scene.
A GPS tracker was installed inside some of the money taken from the Dollar General. As Booker drove, Brown and Horne changed their clothing. Law enforcement followed the GPS tracker until they located the robbers in Booker’s Blue Toyota sedan.
Officers searched the vehicle and found the clothing worn during the robbery of the Dollar General, the Taurus G3c 9mm pistol used during the robbery and a Family Dollar bag.
