A federal judge found Tyrome Lewis, 26, a.k.a. “Boobie,”guilty of eight felony federal robbery charges for organizing and leading a crew that committed 15 armed robberies of independent, “mom-and-pop” pharmacies across Southern California, with the intent of illegally selling the stolen prescription medication. From May 2018 to July 2019, Lewis conspired with others to commit 15 armed robberies. Lewis selected the pharmacies to be robbed, targeting smaller pharmacies to steal oxycodone and other similar prescription medication. He also assigned the roles from the crew members, and then he served as a lookout while co-conspirators committed the robberies. Following the pharmacy robberies, Lewis and others would sell the stolen prescription medication on the black market.

          The court found the Lewis-led armed crew – dubbed the “Oxy Bandits” by law enforcement – robbed pharmacies in Glendale, Bellflower, Paramount, Cerritos, Hawthorne, South Los Angeles, Pico Rivera, Huntington Park, Claremont, Westminster, Fullerton, Anaheim, and Riverside.

          Each of the robberies shared a common modus operandi, including targeting smaller pharmacies, placing the stolen prescription drugs into the pharmacy's trash bags or trash cans, using a black semi-automatic handgun to threaten and intimidate store employees, and forcing employees to open the medication vault.