Man Sentenced in Rite Aid Robbery

A man authorities say threatened a cashier before stealing Oxycontin from the Rite Aid in Sterling the day after he was released from a Fairfax County jail -- where he had spent time for a similar charge -- was sentenced to seven years in prison Tuesday in Loudoun County Circuit Court.

The sentence for William Ray Gosney, 58, was initially 14 years, but Judge James H. Chamblin suspended the final seven years of the sentence so long as Gosney maintained good behavior and completed 10 years of supervised probation after he was released.

Officials say on March 3, Gosney walked into the Rite Aid pharmacy in Sterling.

He "presented a hand written note to the pharmacy clerk advising that he had a gun and demanding that the clerk provide him with Oxycontin and money. The clerk complied and dispensed five bottles of Oxycontin," court documents say.

Gosney took the bottles, dropping one as he turned to leave the store.

He left without collecting any money from the clerk, but took off with about 239 Oxycontin pills. 

Gosney allegedly carried out the robbery the day after he was released from jail in Fairfax County, where he served a six month prison sentence for a "similar robbery offense," officials said in a release.

Before he begins serving his Loudoun County sentence, Gosney must return to Fairfax County Circuit Court for a probation violation hearing. 

There, "4 years and 6 months of previously suspended time may be re-imposed as a result of his Loudoun County robbery conviction," officials said.