"There are Hollywood movies like this," a Lancaster judge told the Pequea man standing before her today.

"Except," Judge Margaret C. Miller told James Douglas Mowrer, "real people were frightened...real people were robbed" in the crimes he committed.

Mowrer, 43, of Loop Road, had pleaded guilty earlier to five counts of robbery — stealing money from suburban store cash registers and multiple other offenses — all during a one-month period in June and July 2007.

Today, Miller imposed concurrent sentences of 4½ to 9 months in prison, followed by 3 years of probation. She also ordered Mowrer to make full restitution and pay court costs.

"I'm very sorry for what I've done and ashamed," Mowrer told the judge.

Mowrer said that while he knows he deserves to be punished, "I just want to go back to being a productive member of society like I was for 42 years. That's all I can hope for."

"Two years ago, he was a working, productive member of society," defense attorney Christopher Tallarico told Miller.

"Then the wheels came off" Mowrer's life, Tallarico said.

A knee operation led to medical and health complications, including a blood clot and heart attack, which led to Mowrer abusing prescription medication, Tallarico said.

The drug addiction escalated into crack cocaine addiction, Tallarico said, which led to Mowrer losing his job. After exhausting his savings account and credit cards, the attorney said, Mowrer turned to crime to feed his addiction.

His client remembers very little about the robberies, Tallarico said, other than just taking the money from the cash registers. No weapons were used and there were no injuries.

Mowrer has been in Lancaster County Prison since his arrest in July, Tallarico said, and has completed drug and alcohol, anger-management and parenting courses while incarcerated.

Assistant District Attorney Todd Brown said Mowrer's case is not that unique in that most property crimes and robberies are either drug or alcohol related, "unless someone is truly evil."

East Lampeter Township Police put an end to Mowrer's crime spree after the robbery of a cash register at the Golden Market, 2200 New Holland Pike.

Six minutes after the 7:03 p.m. robbery on July 17, 2007, East Lampeter police Sgt. James Shank spotted the suspect's car at Route 340 and Horseshoe Road and attempted to stop the vehicle.

Instead, police said, the driver took off, reaching speeds up to 80 mph as he headed west toward Lancaster. When he reached the city, Mowrer allegedly ran red lights and drove the wrong way on one-way streets before being apprehended in the 300 block of Concord Street at 7:18 p.m., police said.

The store clerk, who was pushed during the robbery, identified Mowrer as the robber. The suspect had the same amount of money on him that was stolen from the store, police said.

Police from several jurisdictions, including Warwick and East Hempfield townships, discovered that Mowrer matched the description of the person committing similar crimes in their municipalities.


Staff writer Janet Kelley can be reached at jkelley@LNPnews.com or 481-6026.