Peterborough pharmacy robber sentenced to four years in prison

A drug-addicted thief who robbed a pharmacy in Peterborough in the summer of 2017 has been sentenced to four years in prison less time already served for robbery.

Two other charges were dismissed by the Crown on Monday.

Curt Pelley, 36, of no fixed address showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down in Superior Court on Monday afternoon.

He had pleaded guilty to the failed heist in November 2017

According to the agreed statement of facts, just before noon on Aug. 11, 2017, a man wearing dark pants, a heavy coat and black gloves walked into the Mather and Bell pharmacy on Part Street South. He was also wearing a yellow fisherman’s hat.

Pharmacist and store owner Mark Scanlon told court that Pelley yelled out, “Everybody get down. Get down on the floor or I will shoot.”

Scanlon said he recalled the bandit reaching into his coat pocket for what he thought was a gun but a weapon wasn’t produced.

WATCH: Pharmacy owner stops robbery (Aug. 11, 2017)

0:30 Pharmacy owner stops robbery

Pelley was looking for narcotics and the store was fully stocked with drugs including oxycodone, morphine and fentanyl.

Pelley fired more verbal threats fired at the staff and had a brief physical encounter with Scanlon.

The store had been robbed twice before in the previous two years. And Scanlon had enough.

He chased Pelley out the door and grabbed Pelley’s duffel bag before Pelley left. Pelley fled the scene empty handed.

“There was anger and frustration and a sense of ‘I can’t believe this is happening a third time at this pharmacy in less than three years,'” he said. “I was very angry.”

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Pelley, who was on probation for another crime, was arrested near the pharmacy a short time later by city police.

In victim impact statements read in court Monday, store employee Maureen Grant said, “that day changed my life. It still haunts me. I’m afraid we’ll be robbed again.”

Another staff member said, “the day Mather and Bell was robbed, I was robbed of my peace of mind.”

While the statements were read aloud, Pelley stared at the ceiling.

His lawyer, Bruce Sosa, told the court his client had an unfortunate upbringing and was placed in a foster home at age nine. He has a Grade 6 education. His daughters, aged 12 and 16, live with their mother in Whitby, Ont.

Court heard Pelley’s parents live in Atlantic Canada. The mother is in New Brunswick, while the father, who is showing signs of early Alzheimer’s, is in Newfoundland. Pelley, who suffers from attention deficit disorder (ADD), keeps in close contact with his two older sisters.

He also has a criminal record stretching back 20 years, including two previous penitentiary sentences.

Since his arrest, Pelley was treated for overdoses on three occasions at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay where he has been in custody since the robbery. He told the judge he has enrolled in a methadone treatment program at the CECC.

When asked by the judge if he had anything to say to his victims, Pelley turned around, looked at them and apologized, saying he had no intention of hurting anyone.

“I guess the future remains to be seen in terms of, is he able to be rehabilitated? Will he be a successful contributing citizen to society once he’s out of prison?” said Scanlon outside the courthouse.

With credit for time already served, 602 days, Pelley will be out of prison in just over two years.