Prison Sentence For Two-County Crime Spree

July 25, 2017

Joseph Morgan committed a crime spree in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and was convicted of four counts of principal to robbery with a deadly weapon, one count of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, and two counts of grand theft. Morgan was sentenced to a total of 25 years in state prison.

Escambia County Cases:

Morgan, age 22, was sentenced by Circuit Judge Jan Shackelford to 25 years in state prison. Morgan pled to the charges of two counts of Principal to Robbery with a Deadly Weapon, Burglary of an Unoccupied Conveyance, and two counts of Grand Theft. The Escambia County cases were:

On January 27, 2016, Joseph Morgan and his co-defendant Lonnie Locks made arrangements to purchase a PlayStation 4 gaming package on Craigslist.  Locks met the victim at Zaxby’s restaurant located at 2640 Creighton Road. He pulled what appeared to be a small black gun from his waist and demanded the game package, wallet and phone from the victim. Locks then fled on foot but was later identified in a photo lineup. The packaging of the stolen property was recovered in the home of Morgan and Locks and Morgan’s fingerprints were on the packaging.

On January 30, 2016, co-defendant, Lonnie Locks, age 19, made arrangements to purchase a cell phone on Craigslist. He met the victim at the Circle K located at 2350 W. Michigan Avenue. Instead of retrieving his wallet to pay for the phone, he displayed what appeared to be a firearm in his waistband and began shouting at the victim demanding his phone. Locks chased the victim back to his car and began beating on the windows, but the victim was able to escape unharmed.

Locks fled on foot from the crime scene above at the Circle K and then proceeded to the Dollar General Store located at 4940 Saufley Field Road. While dressed all in black and wearing a mask, Locks indicated to the clerk that he had a gun in his coat pocket and made off with $273 in cash. Morgan picked up Locks following the two robberies aiding his escape.

On February 1, 2016, Locks stole car keys from a locker at the downtown YMCA, formerly located at 410 N. Palafox St.  Afterwards, Joseph Morgan drove Locks around the parking lot using the key fob to locate the victim’s vehicle. Locks then entered the vehicle using the victim’s keys and stole his wallet, cell phone and prescription glasses.  The incident was captured on surveillance video.

Morgan also had two Santa Rosa County cases:

On May 5, 2017, Morgan was convicted by a Santa Rosa County Jury for principal to robbery with a deadly weapon, as a result of the following facts:

On January 21, 2016, co-defendant, Locks, entered the Tom Thumb at 2695 Hwy 87S in Navarre just after midnight.  He was dressed in all black, wearing a mask and forced the clerk from the back room to the register where he took $268 in cash, over $500 in cigarettes and the clerk’s cell phone. Morgan waited down the street and drove Locks from the scene of the crime.

Comments

2 Responses to “Prison Sentence For Two-County Crime Spree”

  1. 429SCJ on July 26th, 2017 4:38 am

    What was that Morgan Freeman said in the Shawshank Redemption; “life blown away in a minute”.

    The general public is much safer now, with that joker locked up.

  2. nod on July 25th, 2017 12:40 pm

    GOOD!!!!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News