A 21-year-old man from Woonsocket will spend 20 years in prison after he stole a gold chain from a man he had met on Facebook Marketplace while arranging to sell it to him, according to the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office.
Anthony Richardson was sentenced today in Providence Superior Court after pleading guilty in February to first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, as well as larceny, carrying a pistol without a license, conspiracy to carry a pistol without a license, and possession of a firearm with altered identifying marks, the Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.
Richardson was ordered to serve 20 years at the Adult Correctional Institutions and pay probation for the remaining five years as part of his sentence.
“This defendant demonstrated over and over again that he was a very real threat to public safety,” Attorney General Peter Neronha said in the news release. “In 2022 alone, the defendant committed multiple acts of robbery and larceny, one of which caused the victim significant bodily harm. It is essential that we hold accountable those who demonstrate patterns of committing serious crimes and endangering the lives of others in the process. I want to thank the Providence Police for their collaboration and diligence in helping bring this defendant to justice.”
The incident occurred on April 10, 2022 when Richardson and an unknown passenger approached the victim, who was carrying a gold chain, in a black Acura with a heavy tint. The passenger tried to grab the chain, but Richardson quickly got back into his car and drove off, leaving the victim behind.
The victim was dragged several feet before he was able to let go of the chain, the Attorney General’s Office said.
Richardson and the passenger fled the scene with the chain, leaving the victim hurt.
“I commend the vigilant efforts of our investigators for holding this defendant accountable for his actions,” Providence Police Colonel Oscar Perez, Jr. said in the news release. “The women and men of the Providence Police Department are committed to ensuring public safety throughout our city and state and will continue working each and every day to remove dangerous criminals from our streets.”
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
