A Lawrenceville man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday after admitting to robbing a Carroll County electronics store at gunpoint and zip-tying an employee two years ago.
Stephan Devon Profitt-Long, 27, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and kidnapping in the May 2019 incident at a Villa Rica AT&T store, Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford said in a news release.
On the day of the robbery, Profitt-Long entered the AT&T store wearing a hoodie and mask while holding a handgun, Cranford said. Noticing a lone employee, Profitt-Long pointed his gun and forced them to lock the front door, Cranford said. He then forced the employee to open a safe located in the back office.
After Profitt-Long stole the cellphones in the safe, he zip-tied the employee and left him on the floor of the back room, according to Cranford. On his way out, the man took the cash from the register.
What he didn’t know is that while he was stealing the cellphones, he took a tracking device with him, Cranford confirmed. Law enforcement was able to track him and he was arrested in Douglas County and later transferred to the Carroll County Jail.
Profitt-Long was sentenced to 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole, followed by 10 years on probation. In court Wednesday, Cranford affirmed that “the victim’s words to the court were moving and undoubtedly had an impact on the sentence given.”
Profitt-Long was also arrested in Gwinnett County in February 2020 after allegedly robbing a Fayetteville AT&T store nearly 10 months prior. Surveillance footage appears to have captured him taking cellphones while sporting a gray UCLA hoodie.
No one was injured during that incident, but Fayetteville police spokeswoman Ann Marie Burdett previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the victim feared for their life.
Profitt-Long was charged with aggravated assault, armed robbery and false imprisonment. At the time, Burdett said investigators were able to tie Profitt-Long to the Villa Rica AT&T robbery.
Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Marie Broder said Profitt-Long has a case in the Fayette County trial calendar but does not have a set court appearance due to a halt in trials after a rise in COVID-19 in their circuit.
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