Texas man sentenced to federal prison for 14 years for robberies, including one in Lawrence

A federal judge sentenced a 26-year-old Texas man Monday to 14 years in prison for committing four robberies, including a Jan. 26 armed robbery of Cirilla’s in Lawrence.

District Judge J. Thomas Marten handed down the sentence to David B. Johnson after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of robbery and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Johnson admitted to committing robberies from Jan. 23 to Jan. 28 in Topeka, Lawrence and Wichita.

Authorities had accused Johnson and Brittany R. Holt, 22, of Topeka, with a Jan. 26 armed robbery at Cirilla’s in Lawrence in which a man with a handgun was accused of taking $108 cash from a clerk at the store and a woman allegedly took lingerie, an adult toy and a set of bondage equipment. The couple were caught in a chase in the Wichita area two days after Johnson robbed a Subway restaurant there.

Holt pleaded guilty last week to one federal count of robbery. Her sentencing is scheduled for August. According to court records, Johnson’s attorney asked for a 10-year prison sentence, saying Johnson had struggled with drugs and alcohol addiction since he was a teenager.