AURORA, Colo. – A man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for robbing a post office while holding two clerks at gunpoint.
According to a news release from United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn, Willie Dewayne Phillip will also serve 5 years of supervised release after his sentence is carried out.
Phillip robbed a post office in Aurora Nov. 8, 2018, while wearing a balaclava and gloves, according to the release. He pointed a handgun at the clerks and a customer, and ordered the clerks to lie down and tie their hands together with zip ties.
One complied and one froze, while Phillip took more than $5,000 from the registers and fled the scene on foot.
His gloves and balaclava were found and his DNA was discovered on both. He was found more than a month later barricaded in a house in Denver. After he was surrounded, he chose to surrender.
“Thanks to the diligent work of our the Postal Inspectors and our law enforcement partners, a dangerous criminal is off the street,” said Dunn, in the release. “My office will work tirelessly to hold violent criminals accountable, especially when they threaten public servants.”
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Aurora Police Department, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado Bureau of Investigation – Denver Forensic Science Laboratory, and the Denver Police Department, according to the release.