Source: US FBI
ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man on Thursday admitted robbing two St. Louis County, Missouri businesses at gunpoint in 2024.
Stanley E. Alford, 58, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He admitted robbing a store on Gravois Bluffs Boulevard in Fenton, Missouri on Jan. 24, 2024, and a pawnshop in the 8100 block of Gravois Road in St. Louis County two days later.
During the first robbery, Alford asked a cashier for change and left when she said she couldn’t open the register. He returned a short time later to return an item that he’d just purchased. When the victim opened the register, Alford pulled a handgun and ordered the cashier to give him the cash drawer. He then made her put the cash in a bag and shoved her head with the barrel of the gun.
At the pawnshop, Alford browsed jewelry before pulling a handgun. After the employee who was helping Alford ran for her life, he jumped over the counter and stole a tray containing ten gold and diamond rings.
Surveillance video captured Alford committing both robberies and fleeing in a vehicle registered to him. He was also wearing or had in his possession several stolen rings, and officers found distinctive clothing and other evidence connecting him to the robberies.
Alford is scheduled to be sentenced on October 14. The robbery charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The brandishing charges carry a penalty of seven years in prison, consecutive to any other charge, meaning Alford faces at least 14 years in prison.
The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.