On February 7, 2017, in the Circuit Court for Queen Anne’s County, Charles Lamont Finney, aged 38, who is currently serving a 9 year prison sentence in Delaware, was sentenced to 12 and a half years to the Division of Corrections, consecutive to his Delaware sentence, for the crimes of robbery and theft.  Finney had previously entered a guilty plea in this case, which was prosecuted by State’s Attorney Lance Richardson. Following his completion of the Delaware prison sentence, Mr. Finney will be transported to the Maryland Division of Corrections to serve his 12 1/2 year sentence.

Finney’s conviction was based on his actions from February, 2013 in which he robbed a clerk at the Trailway Truck Stop in Centreville.  Finney brandished what appeared to be a handgun, but was later determined to be a pellet gun. Finney stole an undisclosed amount of money during the robbery, but was captured on the store’s surveillance video system.  Police used this surveillance video to zero in on Finney. Finney was later apprehended by the Delaware authorities and held at a Delaware prison.  Maryland State Police detectives subsequently interviewed Finney at the Delaware Prison and Finney made incriminating admissions after viewing the photographs of himself from the surveillance video, which depicted him in a very distinct leather jacket with a snake embroidered on the back of the jacket. Finney was known to own and wear such a jacket. Finney claimed he committed the crime due to his drug addiction and had no intentions of harming the victim.  Finney further explained that he was remorseful, but his desperate actions were the result of having no support system upon being released from prison prior to this crime. Mr. Finney also plead guilty to additional thefts, even though there was no DNA or other physical evidence in those cases, but he matched the suspect description.  Finney agreed to plea guilty in those cases if the State would not object to his participation in an inpatient drug treatment program prior to him being released back into society near the end of his Maryland prison sentence.

State’s Attorney Lance Richardson thanked Detective Nathaniel Vansant of the Maryland State Police for his efforts and professionalism in investigating this case, which resulted in the conviction of Mr. Finney.