‘Career offender’ gets prison for robbing a 75-year-old woman at a Florida Publix
A Manatee County judge sentenced a 46-year-old man to 15 years in prison for robbing a woman behind a Publix grocery store.
In November 2022, Anthony Pete attacked a 75-year-old woman from behind, grabbing her purse and running away with it, prosecutors say. According to an arrest report, Pete later confessed to the crime.
Investigators identified Pete, of Winter Haven, based on witness testimony and video footage of the robbery, which captured the license plate of a Chevrolet Malibu registered under his name, deputies say.
Court records show Pete entered an open plea Monday, allowing Judge Charles Sniffen to decide his prison sentence without contest.
“Although the State was seeking a 30-year prison sentence, we are pleased that the court did sentence the defendant to a significant amount of prison time for the protection of our community,” said Assistant State Attorney Tyler Egbert, the lead prosecutor on the case.
At the time of the robbery, Pete was on probation after a 23-year prison sentence for robbery and aggravated battery. In the arrest report, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office described him as a “career offender.”
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Pete previously spent time in state prison for cocaine possession, robbery and battery on a person over the age of 65.
