‘Leader’ in federal pharmacy burglaries case admits to 67 other burglaries across 11 states

A Tennessee man who admitted in federal court Thursday that he conspired in the burglaries of Sav-Rite Pharmacy and Stephanie’s Down Home Pharmacy in Corbin, provided a list of 67 other pharmacies across 11 states that were victimized between 2010 and 2015.

Robert Nunley, 45, of Tracy City, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Hanly A. Ingram that he was involved in the conspiracy to burgalize the pharmacies with the goal of securing prescription drugs, specifically Percocet, Roxicet and Hydrocone, which he would resell to an unidentified individual.

“He would distribute them out,” Nunley said when asked what the individual did with the pills.

Nunley, who pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary of a pharmacy and one count of conspiracy to distribute, admitted to working with co-defendants Christopher Land, Jamie Sweeton, Randy Stiefel, Kenneth Britton, Anthony Bosio, James Ronald Jones and Tony Britton, to obtain and sell the pills.

In addition to Sav-Rite and Stephanies, Nunley admitted to burglarizing pharmacies in: McCracken, Lyon, Christian, Henderson, Warren Barren, Hardin, Graves, Montgomery, Russell, Daviess, Ohio, Adair and Hopkins counties in Kentucky, along with pharmacies in Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Illinois and Indiana.

“The defendant’s (Nunley’s) participation in these burglaries typically included breaking locks on pharmacies’ doors to gain entry to the pharmacies,” the plea agreement states.

In return for admitting to the additional burglaries, federal prosecutors agreed not to prosecute Nunley for them.

Under federal law, Nunley faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.

Ingram reminded Nunley before he entered the plea, that while it is uncommon in the federal court system, the court could order that he serve each sentence consecutively, meaning for each day he spends in prison, he only receives credit toward one of the sentences.

“There is no parole in the federal system,” Ingram added.

No sentencing date has yet been set.

Bosio was the first to enter a guilty plea, admitting during his rearraignment in February to selling some of the stolen pills, and sharing the proceeds of such sales with his co-conspirators.

Kenneth Britton pleaded guilty to his part in the conspiracy at a rearraignment hearing on March 9.

Britton told U.S. Magistrate Judge Hanly A. Ingram that he would drive the trail car during the burglaries, explaining that it was his job to be looking out for the police.

Land entered a plea agreement Wednesday.

According to area police, video surveillance from each pharmacy shows the masked men popping the lock on the front door to gain entry to the building.

Once inside, the burglars swept the drugs off of the shelves and into large storage tubs.

The investigation into each burglary had gone cold until mid 2016, when U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials contacted Corbin Police after developing a case connecting Nunley to the burglaries.

“Pill bottles taken during the burglaries at Stephanie’s had been found at Nunley’s home when the DEA searched it,” said Corbin Police Chief Rusty Hedrick, who was the detective working the Sav-Rite burglary.

At the time the initial indictment was returned, Nunley was incarcerated in the Lincoln County, Tennessee jail on charges stemming from a 2012 burglary at a pharmacy in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

“They went in and popped the lock and left with quite a few pills, Shelbyville Police Lt. Brian Crews told The Herald newspaper in Grundy County, Tennessee at the time of the burglary.