Man Who Robbed Pasadena Pharmacy Faces Sentencing for 12 Armed Heists

A Hawthorne man who robbed a Pasadena pharmacy as part of a dozen armed heists across Los Angeles County faces sentencing Monday on federal charges stemming from the six-week crime spree.

Makai Sanders, 23, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to federal counts of conspiracy, Hobbs Act robbery — robbery affecting interstate commerce — and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

The robberies targeted Rite Aid and Walgreens stores in Pasadena and eight other Southern California cities between August and September 2023.

Prosecutors said Sanders and co-defendant Kenyatta Jones, 23, would enter the stores about an hour before closing time armed with handguns. The pair stole victims’ cell phones and forced employees to open store safes.

During one robbery, Sanders and Jones held a customer at gunpoint, stealing the victim’s iPhone. They also threatened a store employee by pointing a gun at her back and using the barrel to push her toward the safe.

The frightened employee managed to lock herself inside the store’s staffing office and call 911 after noticing the robber was distracted, court documents show.

Sanders and Jones once fled in a white Honda Civic, which investigators later discovered had been rented through a peer-to-peer carsharing company.

Law enforcement tracked the suspects using phone records and GPS data, arresting them on Sept. 26, 2023. At the time of their arrests, both men possessed handguns consistent with those used in the robberies, and officers found clothing matching what was worn during the crimes.

Jones pleaded guilty to the same charges as Sanders and was sentenced last week to 25 years in federal prison.