An Erie man accused of using a note and the threat of a gun to steal cash from a westside Rite Aid store in November has been indicted federally in the crime.
A federal grand jury indicted 58-year-old Raymond J. Churilla Jr. on one count of Hobbs Act robbery, a robbery that affects interstate commerce, in the robbery of the Rite Aid store at 163 W. 26th St. on the morning of Nov. 28. The indictment was filed in U.S. District Court in Erie on Tuesday.
The charge Churilla faces carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to information in an indictment memorandum also filed on Tuesday.
Churilla is currently in the Erie County Prison on $35,000 bond on charges including three felony counts of robbery that Erie police filed against him in the Rite Aid heist. Churilla was awaiting his formal arraignment in Erie County Court of Common Pleas after he waived his preliminary hearing on the charges in late December.
Rite Aid robbery
Erie police accuse Churilla in the Rite Aid robbery of walking into the store wearing a red jacket and a blue mask and handing an employee a note which stated he had a gun and demanded cash. Churilla then fled after stealing a few hundred dollars from the Rite Aid, according to investigators.