On Thursday, May 19, 2016, in the Circuit Court of Taney County, GREGORY M. JOHNSON a/k/a GREGOR JOHNSON, d/o/b 5-24-1981, of Branson, entered guilty pleas to three (3) felony charges: class A felony pharmacy robbery in the first degree, felony armed criminal action, and class C felony unlawful possession of a concealable firearm. Johnson pleaded guilty without any plea agreement. Johnson’s case was scheduled for jury trial to begin this past Monday. Taney County Circuit Court Judge Laura Johnson scheduled sentencing for July 13, 2016.

On September 30, 2014, Johnson entered the Family Pharmacy at Cross Creek Shopping Center wearing a camouflage shirt and a black ski mask, pointing a handgun at pharmacy employees. Johnson demanded oxycodone pills and – while employees put the pills into a bag – Johnson counted-down from twenty while holding them at gunpoint. While leaving the store with the stolen pills, Johnson was wounded in the torso by a gunshot from a pharmacy employee. Johnson returned fire on the employees, but no one was struck by the bullets from Johnson’s handgun.

Later that day, Taney County Sheriff’s deputies stopped a car matching the description of the robber’s car, developed from surveillance video. Johnson was driving the car, and was observed to be bleeding from the torso. As Johnson was transported to the hospital by ambulance, he confessed to a detective that he had robbed the pharmacy to get pills.

Pharmacy robbery in the first degree carries a maximum penalty of thirty (30) years in prison. Armed criminal action is an unclassified felony that carries a minimum of three (3) years in prison and no set maximum sentence. Because Johnson has a felony conviction from Colorado, it was illegal for him to possess the handgun he used to rob the pharmacy, so he was charged with unlawful possession of a concealable firearm. Unlawful possession of a concealable firearm is a class C felony, with a maximum possible sentence of seven (7) years in prison and/or a $5,000.00 fine.