HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that seven men scheduled to go to trial this week for a series of robberies at Pennsylvania highway rest stops have pleaded guilty.
On Monday morning, members of the robbery group — John Black, Wendell Compton, Robert Murphy, Darrell Noel, Robert Chandler, Adam Smith and Danny Williams — each pleaded guilty to five counts of third-degree felony robbery.
According to the joint investigation between the Office of Attorney General and Pennsylvania State Police, the group targeted truckers and other motorists in April 2023 at rest stops on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and other highways in Somerset, Westmoreland, and Dauphin counties.
No weapons were used in the distraction-style robberies, and no one was hurt.
A Westmoreland County Judge sentenced each man to at least three months in prison and a period of parole supervision.
“This group conspired in a series of brazen robberies that endangered motorists targeted at random,” Attorney General Sunday said. “The fine investigative work from our partners with the state police led to these appropriate plea resolutions.”
The cases were prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Alex Cashman of the Organized Crime Section.
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