Teens Get 10 Years For Pizza Holdups

The first time they held up a pizza delivery driver, Franklin Rommel Sosa-Carmona, 19, and Jeffon Quartiz Wilson, 18, made off with $32. They said they spent it at Burger King. The second time, the take was bigger: $500. The teenagers said they split it.

On Monday, Sosa-Carmona was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the robberies, two weeks after Wilson, the gunman, was handed the same prison term. Both teenagers had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery for the June incidents.

"It's an appropriate sentence," said Robert Vernail, an assistant commonwealth's attorney. "It's a sentence that will deter others from behaving likewise."

Wilson, of Leesburg, and Sosa-Carmona, of Round Hill, faced life in prison. Each was sentenced in Loudoun County Circuit Court to 20 years in prison with 10 years suspended. Wilson, who was 17 at the time of the robberies, was tried as an adult.

The first incident was a setup, Vernail said. On June 18, the teenagers ordered a pizza to be delivered to the Fieldstone apartments in Leesburg. Wilson waited in the foyer of the complex while Sosa-Carmona acted as lookout, Vernail said. When the Pizza Hut delivery driver showed up, Wilson brandished a firearm and demanded money. He fled with Sosa-Carmona after collecting $32.

The next night, Wilson hid behind an electrical box at the rear of a Domino's Pizza restaurant in Ashburn, and Sosa-Carmona waited in a car nearby, Vernail said. When a pizza deliverer returned to the store, Wilson pointed a gun and removed the driver's wallet from his pocket, authorities said.

The drivers were uninjured in both cases, authorities said.

Working together, Leesburg police and Loudoun County sheriffs' investigators identified the teenagers as suspects. They were arrested in July.

Wilson said the weapon he wielded at both robberies was a BB gun, but authorities were unable to confirm that, Vernail said. According to the law, it does matter, Vernail said -- sentencing guidelines, which judges take into account when deciding punishment, consider BB guns as weapons.

Pizza delivery drivers, who often work alone and carry cash, are not infrequent robbery targets. Sometimes, the robberies turn violent: In July, a Domino's Pizza driver was fatally shot while delivering a pizza in Prince George's County. The previous year, an Alexandria man was shot in a botched robbery that took place after he delivered a pizza. His killer was sentenced to 44 years in prison.

Vernail said the Pizza Hut driver in the Leesburg case said he had been robbed before.

"You got a couple guys that are out here trying to make a living and support their families," Vernail said. "You shouldn't have to be put in that kind of jeopardy."