Michael Tremayne Smith, a 40-year-old resident of Sugarland, Texas, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison Wednesday for burglary of a pharmacy in Littleton in 2022.

He was also charged for aiding and abetting and possession with intent to distribute a quantity of oxycodone.  

Smith pleaded guilty on March 11, according to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to the court documents and other information presented in court, Drugco Discount Pharmacy in Littleton was burglarized on January 28, 2022.  

Security footage showed two people jump through the drive-thru window into the area behind the pharmacy counter.  

Both burglars were wearing hooded sweatshirts, gloves, and masks and were carrying large bags.  

They quickly grabbed numerous bottles of prescription medication, threw them into the bags, and ran out. The stolen drugs were worth $5,786.

Later that morning, a Franklin County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped Smith driving south on I-85. Inside his car were 15 unopened pill bottles labeled oxycodone, 12 opened pill bottles labeled oxycodone, and two bottles of liquid labeled promethazine, which matched substances taken during the burglary.

The passenger, LaCarlton Lee Johnson Jr., was also charged. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 87 months in prison.

United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced Smith.  

The Drug Enforcement Administration, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer C. Nucci prosecuted the case.