A Portland man who robbed two Vancouver pharmacies at gunpoint over the summer last year and attacked a fellow inmate in the Clark County Jail was sentenced Monday to 13 1/2 years in prison.
Keith B. Woody Jr., 25, previously pleaded guilty in Superior Court to first-degree robbery with a firearm enhancement, second-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the robberies. He also entered guilty pleas to fourth-degree assault and possession of a weapon by an inmate.
On June 7, 2016, Woody entered the Walgreens Pharmacy at 2903 N.E. Andresen Road and pointed a handgun at a pharmacist while demanding money and prescription medications. He left with thousands of dollars in medication, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Then, shortly before 3 p.m. Aug. 22, 2016, Woody and an accomplice, Keandre D. Brown, 20, also of Portland, entered the Mill Plain Pharmacy, 614 Mill Plain Blvd., with handguns and demanded items, including oxycodone, a separate probable cause affidavit states.
An officer in the area saw the two men run toward a gold-colored car after the robbery, but they were gone by the time he arrived, the affidavit states.
A witness got the license plate number, and the registration came back to a vehicle sold in Oregon, according to court documents.
The vehicle was later caught running a red light in Portland, which captured a photo of the occupants, one of which was later identified as Woody, the affidavit said.
Portland Police Bureau detectives found the abandoned vehicle — which was believed to have been used in another robbery in Portland — with Woody’s identification inside, as well as a sweatshirt worn during the June robbery in Vancouver. DNA on the sweatshirt later came back as a match to Woody.
A fingerprint taken from inside the car came back as a match to Brown, court records show. Both men matched the suspects captured in surveillance footage of the robbery.
They were later taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service in Vancouver.
Police said Woody was in possession of a 9 mm handgun, and Brown admitted to hiding a .40-caliber handgun under the back seat, according to court documents. Police also recovered a third handgun.
Brown was convicted during a jury trial earlier this month of first-degree robbery, four counts of second-degree assault and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm in the Mill Plain Pharmacy robbery. He will be sentenced Oct. 10.
While in custody for the robberies, Woody reportedly attacked another inmate after that inmate wouldn’t let him borrow his comic books. Woody entered the man’s cell carrying an eating utensil with a metal tip attached and swung the weapon at the man, causing a scratch near his left eye. The men began to fight, and Woody stabbed the other inmate in the right side of his forehead, leaving a puncture wound, according to a separate probable cause affidavit.
During sentencing, Deputy Prosecutor James Smith recommended that Woody serve the top of the sentencing range — 162 months, which includes a 60-month firearm enhancement.
Woody’s defense attorney, Gregg Schile, asked that his client receive 137 months, the bottom of the sentencing range. He presented the judge with some of Woody’s history, and spoke to his maturity.
Woody told Judge Daniel Stahnke that his brother was killed when he was a juvenile and that he later confronted some of the people involved, which resulted in his conviction for attempted first-degree assault in Oregon. He said he grew up in a house, where “dope was cooked” and that he was around “dope dealers.”
After serving his time in the attempted assault, he got a job but soon lost it. He committed the robberies, he said, because he had bills to pay.
Woody apologized to all of the victims affected by his actions and said he takes full responsibility. He hopes one day the victims can forgive him, he said.
Stahnke said that although he, too, hopes Woody can do better, he’s skeptical because of his history of violence. He sentenced Woody to 162 months and 18 months of community custody.
Woody will have to pay back $15,376.36 in restitution in the robberies.
