Philadelphia Woman Sentenced To 7.5 To 20 Years For Robbing Elderly Woman

A Philadelphia woman who police say robbed a 78-year-old woman and then used the elderly woman’s credit cards was sentenced last week to serve an aggregate of seven and a half to 20 years in state prison.

Shakira Williams, 39, was found guilty of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, identity theft and simple assault after a jury trial in February. The victim, now 79, reportedly suffered injuries to her head, arms and hands, and required stitches to her face because of the incident.

Williams, who said she has struggled for years with heroin addiction, already has served several years in federal prison for a series of bank robberies committed more than a decade ago.

According to Judge Diane E. Gibbons, Williams had shown no remorse for her crimes and had done nothing constructive to deal with her drug problems, which she said led to the sentencing.

As reported previously by LevittownNow.com, Williams and a co-defendant, 39-year-old Michael Galante, followed the victim outside of the Shop Rite supermarket off of Oxford Valley Road in Bristol Township last May. Galante then grabbed the woman’s purse while she was at the rear of her vehicle and jumped in a stolen getaway car. As the car sped away, it struck the elderly woman, causing her to fall to the pavement.

Police said as Galante drove to New Jersey, Williams rifled through the victim’s purse and discarded many of its contents out of the car window. The pair then used the victim’s credit cards to make purchases of merchandise that they could later re-sell for drug money. Williams also is said to have purchased some items for herself.

“You have shown no remorse for what happened…Your response was, `Woo-hoo! I’ve got her purse!’” Gibbons told Williams, saying she had shown no concern for whether the victim was seriously hurt.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees, who tried the case, argued that Williams has had repeated opportunities for rehabilitation, but has failed to take advantage of them. “Heroin is not the problem here; Ms. Williams’ decision-making is the problem,” he said.

Gibbons agreed, saying that Williams had chosen to neglect her own family and endanger others by using drugs and committing crimes. She told Williams that she had shown “a lack of empathy for everyone in society. And you have demonstrated that again and again and again.”