A Foley man who admitted to a string of armed robberies at local businesses is scheduled to learn his fate in federal court early next year, with a sentencing hearing set for Jan. 8.
Larry Shoots, 53, entered a guilty plea earlier this year in federal court in Mobile to three counts of interference with commerce by threat or violence, a charge tied to a series of holdups that rattled Baldwin County business owners in late 2013 and early 2014. Prosecutors say Shoots targeted stores in Foley, using a toy gun to convince employees he was armed and dangerous.
According to court records, the first robbery took place on Dec. 1, 2013, at a Dollar General on Riviera Boulevard, where a man in a black hat and green mask covering half his face took roughly $823 from a cash register and bank bag. Weeks later, on Feb. 7, an armed robber wearing a black ski mask made off with more than $4,000 from an Approved Cash Advance location on South McKenzie Street. A third robbery followed on Feb. 26 at another Dollar General on North McKenzie Street, where the gunman forced an employee to open a safe before escaping with nearly $800.
Foley police arrested Shoots on March 20 after connecting him to the string of holdups. He later admitted using a toy gun during the robberies and told investigators he had disposed of it; the weapon was never recovered.
Court records indicate other individuals were also taken into custody in connection with the case and are facing separate charges at the state level in Baldwin County, though the federal case against Shoots proceeded on its own track.
The three counts Shoots pleaded guilty to each carry significant federal penalties, and his upcoming sentencing will determine how much time he could spend behind bars. Federal interference-with-commerce charges are often used in armed robbery cases involving businesses engaged in interstate commerce, giving prosecutors additional leverage beyond state robbery statutes.
For Foley business owners, the case closes out a stretch of unsettling incidents that put employees on edge during the holiday shopping season the year before. Law enforcement officials in Baldwin County have said cases like this one underscore the importance of employee safety training at retail locations, particularly during high-traffic periods when cash volumes are elevated.
The Jan. 8 hearing is scheduled to be held in U.S. District Court in Mobile.