PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A 48-year-old woman has been sentenced to 36 months in prison after demanding prescription drugs during an attempted robbery at a Port St. Lucie drugstore last year. the Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Jennifer Scee, of Port St. Lucie, pleaded guilty on Nov. 15, 2023, and was sentenced Thursday in West Palm Beach by District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks. She also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
Scee was identified as the armed robbery suspect at Aster Discount Pharmacy and apprehended.
She originally faces charges of robbery with a firearm and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Scee was prosecuted under the federal Hobbs Act, which prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce "in any way or degree."
Port St. Lucie police said the attempted robbery occurred shortly after 1:30 p.m. April 21, 2023.
The woman entered the store and held an employee at gunpoint, demanding Dilaudid, which is an opioid, according to Port St. Lucie police.
When she was told the pharmacy didn't have the drug, the suspect jumped over the counter and pointed the handgun at the victim. When the victim yelled, the suspect fled in a gray Honda Civic coupe.
Port St. Lucie police officers obtained video surveillance from the plaza where the pharmacy is located, which shows Scee wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, black leggings, a black hat covering and a surgical mask covering her face entering and fleeing the pharmacy on foot.
Officers also obtained surveillance footage showing a 2001-2005 Honda Civic Coupe with a sunroof and dark-tinted windows pulling into the parking lot at the nearby plaza shortly before the robbery and leaving the parking lot shortly after the robbery.
Law enforcement officers confirmed that a 2004 Honda Civic Coupe was registered to Scee in Port St. Lucie. She was arrested at her residence in Port St. Lucie.
This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In 2017, PSN was reinvigorated as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement, and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.