Judge sentences man accused of stealing pharmacy truck after being released in robbery

SAN FRANCISCO – A Vallejo man who is facing federal charges of robbing a pharmacy when he allegedly did so with a truck full of prescription drugs on Wednesday has been convicted seven years and five months in prison.

Lembrent Rubin, 37, was convicted by US District Judge Charles Breyer after pleading guilty to federal robbery. Rubin has been in the Santa Rita Prison in Dublin since his arrest in September 2019; he allegedly stole a pharmaceutical delivery truck outside of Costco in Vallejo and carried a loaded gun when he was arrested at a nearby apartment complex a short time later.

Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 11 years and 10 months, stating in court records that Rubin was arrested with a loaded gun five times between 2015-19 and that he was a suspect in an unspecified shooting. located in San Francisco.

“So far, (Rubin) has served only a few days in prison on a state gun conviction, and the government recognizes that more than a decade in prison represents a significant escalation. about punishment,” the two US attorneys wrote in a brief sentencing. “However, the defendant’s criminal conduct dangerously escalated over the years leading up to the robbery, and at the same time, the defendant showed little respect for the justice system.”

During the October 2018 robbery that led to federal charges, Rubin entered a San Francisco Safe Street, stood behind the drugstore inside, brandished a gun and demanded methadone, prosecutors wrote in court filings. . He was indicted in late November 2018, and two weeks later, U.S. District Court Judge Sallie Kim released him with a $50,000 fine.