WILMINGTON — A Wilmington man was sentenced Thursday for a 2015 robbery of the McDonalds on Eastwood and Military Cutoff roads.
Leroy Sheldon Johnson, 38, pleaded guilty last November to robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon at the fast-food chain. He was sentenced to serve a minimum three to five years in prison, due to minimal criminal history. He also must pay $4,159.68 in restitution, the amount to be split with his co-defendants.
The incident took place at McDonalds on Oct. 17, 2015. Johnson and Richard McLaughlin entered the restaurant after it closed. An employee involved in the incident “left the back delivery door ajar,” according to a press release from the district attorney’s office.
The now former employee was Johnson’s girlfriend at the time and was charged in the incident.
As McLaughlin emptied the safe, Johnson, firearm in hand, threatened an employee and chased the victim out of the restaurant.
As Johnson escaped, the victim followed his car to track the license plate number and called 911. Shortly thereafter, the Wilmington Police Department located the vehicle, from which Johnson had jumped and fled.
“In the midst of this traumatic experience, the quick thinking of the victim in getting that tag number was critical to this investigation,” Assistant District Attorney Connie Jordan said in the release.
Johnson was apprehended and arrested in April of 2017 and admitted guilt.
McLaughlin was in federal custody out of state until December of 2021, convicted of two other armed robberies — one in Pennsylvania and another in New Jersey. US Marshals transported him back to New Hanover County, where McLaughlin was found guilty by a New Hanover County jury on Oct. 7, 2022.
He will serve 18 to 23 years in prison, due to an extensive criminal history.
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