Guilty pleas entered in two robbery cases
David Allen Denoncourt pleaded guilty in Middlesex Circuit Court on Monday to the robberies of Tall Chief Market at Syringa and Quarles Convenience Store at Locust Hill, which occurred on February 7 and 8, 2009.
Judge Thomas N. Nance sentenced Denoncourt, 56, to 50 years on each charge. Per the plea agreement, Judge Nance suspended 40 years on each count.
The sentences will be served “consecutively,” which means Denoncourt will have to serve an active sentence of 20 years, said Middlesex Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael T. Hurd.
Inmates must serve at least 85 percent of a sentence, which would be 17 years in Denoncourt’s case, Hurd added.
As part of the guilty plea, three related felony charges against Denoncourt were not prosecuted, said Hurd. Two charges of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and one charge of abduction were dropped.
Hurd said that all victims, including two clerks at Tall Chief and one clerk at Quarles Convenience Store, were satisfied with Denoncourt’s plea agreement.
Tall Chief Market is located on Regent Road and Quarles is on Route 33.
According to the plea agreement, Denoncourt must make restitution to Tall Chief in the amount of $370, and $150 to Quarles.
Denoncourt is also serving a 7-year sentence, imposed on July 1, 2009, for grand larceny of aluminum siding from a house trailer, said Hurd, adding that Denoncourt has appealed this grand larceny conviction.
Court records indicate Denoncourt, who previously lived in Massachusetts, came to Virginia via an interstate contract agreement with the Virginia Department of Corrections to serve a Massachusetts sentence in a Virginia prison. He later moved to Middlesex.
Denoncourt is the second of four individuals to plead guilty to crimes associated with the two store robberies.
In December 2009, Denise Blankenship pled guilty to robbery of Tall Chief Market and Quarles Convenience Store as a “principal in the second degree,” said Hurd.
A person who commits a felony is known as a principal in the first degree. An “accessory” or accomplice is a principal in the second degree, Hurd explained.
Blankenship drove Denoncourt to Tall Chief Market, Hurd said.
Under the plea agreement Blankenship, 57, was sentenced in each case to 25 years imprisonment with 22 years and 6 months suspended in each case for 25 years, meaning she was sentenced to serve 5 years of the 50-year sentence.
Blankenship was recommended for the Therapeutic Community Program, which is a 3-year substance abuse and rehabilitation program run by the Department of Corrections (DOC) and housed within a DOC prison.
Two other defendants charged in connection with these robberies are scheduled to appear in court on May 5.
Kevin Creswell Blake, 45, of Topping, is charged with the misdemeanor of accessory-after-the-fact in the Tall Chief robbery. Blake is also facing a felony charge in the robbery of Quarles Convenience Store as a principal in the second degree.
Christine Belmore, 38, is facing two robbery charges as a principal in the second degree. Belmore is also charged with conspiracy to rob Tall Chief Market.
The Middlesex Sheriff’s Office arrested all four persons within 72 hours of the two hold-ups.
