Harvey L. Bryant, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach, announced today that Kenneth Huff Jr., 55 years old, previously residing in the 5100 block of Rugby Road in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge H. Thomas Padrick on charges of Armed Robbery, Use of a Firearm, Wearing a Mask in Public, and Conspiracy. Huff was found guilty of these charges by a jury on April 25, 2012. The jury recommended a sentence of 12 years and 36 months in the Department of Corrections. Today, Judge Padrick followed the jury’s recommendation and imposed that sentence.
The Commonwealth’s evidence proved that around 4:30 in the morning on May 18, 2011, Kenneth Huff Jr. and a co-conspirator robbed the Miller Mart at the corner of Lynnhaven Parkway and Indian River Road in Virginia Beach at gunpoint. The clerk, who was the only employee working the night shift that evening, was behind the counter when the two masked men entered and pointed a gun at her chest. They jumped behind the counter and stole lottery tickets, cash from the register, and the victim’s cell phone.
A few hours later, Huff cashed a winning lottery ticket at a Food Lion in Chesapeake. An employee at Food Lion remembered Huff cashing the ticket because his winnings of $100 were rare for a scratch-off lottery ticket. Huff also engaged in a conversation about the employee’s family, which struck him as unusual because he had never seen Huff before. Images from Food Lion’s surveillance cameras showed Huff in the store. Later that day, Food Lion managers were contacted by an employee of the Virginia lottery regarding a stolen lottery ticket that had been recently cashed in their store. The ticket was registered and activated just days earlier at the Miller Mart that had been robbed at gunpoint. Huff was also linked to the robbery after his fingerprint was found on one of the lottery tickets left behind on the floor of the Miller Mart.
Huff’s prior record includes convictions for Robbery, Attempted Robbery, Use of a Firearm, four (4) counts of Grand Larceny, two (2) counts of Possession of Burglary Tools, Receiving Stolen Property, two (2) counts of Petit Larceny, two (2) counts of Concealment, Destruction of Property, Worthless Check, 11 counts of Trespassing, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Attempt to Impede Police, Contempt of Court, two (2) counts of Failure to Appear, Reckless Driving, Driving on a Suspended License, and numerous other traffic infractions.
Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin D. Stolle and Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nickie L. Herron prosecuted the case. Please contact Macie Pridgen if additional information is desired.