Tuesday, August 19, 2008
(Last modified: 2008-08-19 16:54:42)
 
Author: Tommy Millsaps
Source: The Monroe County Advocate

The man who Sweetwater Police caught red-handed robbing Archer’s Family Pharmacy on Main Street last December has pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated armed robbery.

Steven Yarber, 45, was caught with the stocking still on his head at the pharmacy door at closing time Dec. 28, 2007.

Investigators said he held up the store at gunpoint.

Yarber was soon identified as the same man who robbed the Main Street drug store just three months before.

After pleading guilty Monday to both holdups, Yarber was sentenced to two 10-year sentences to run concurrently in state prison.

He is eligible for parole after serving 30 percent or three years of that sentence.

Yarber will be credited with the time he has already served in jail, about eight months.

Yarber has had numerous addresses in Monroe County listed as his home address.

His daughter, Samantha Yarber, who was arrested in Athens not long after the December holdup, was charged with facilitating the robbery.

She agreed to a pre-trial diversion earlier this year and must stay out of trouble for two years.

In two other high profile cases, Cedric Holmes, 31, of Loudon stands charged with two counts of solicitation of a minor after allegations the former in-school suspension teacher had inappropriate contact with Sweetwater High School students.

He faces a status hearing Oct. 27.

Samuel Lamont Robinson, 34, Sweetwater, stands accused of running over a Sweetwater man with a truck in June.

He is also charged with vandalism and faces a Sept. 15 status hearing.

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