A man who punched a grandmother outside a Vinings Publix and stole her purse was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison.
A Cobb County jury convicted 44-year-old Oluwole Olushola for the June 4, 2019, attack and robbery of Sondra Dillon, who was 84 at the time.
Olushola, who has a lengthy criminal history, was convicted of robbery by force, three counts of financial transaction card theft and three counts of identity fraud. He was also charged with elder abuse, but jurors acquitted him on that count, court records show.
He was sentenced to 20 years, with 13 to serve in prison and the remainder on probation. He is not eligible for parole because of his criminal history.
Dillon, now 86, addressed Olushola during his sentencing hearing.
“I hope his inmates beat him to a pulp and leave him unconscious as he did to me,” she told Channel 2 Action News on Thursday.
The morning attack outside the busy grocery store left Dillon battered and bruised with black eye.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Reading from the letter she brought to Olushola’s sentencing, Dillon said while her cuts and scrapes have healed, she now has to use a cane to get around.
Dillon previously told the news station she had just gotten to the store to meet a friend when Olushola came “out of the blue” and attacked her.
“Shot out like a bird flying in and stopped the car,” she said in a 2019 interview. “Jumped out. It was all in a flash.”
Olushola was arrested by U.S. marshals three days after the robbery. According to his indictment, he used the woman’s stolen credit cards at a Sandy Springs Publix, two gas stations, a pharmacy and a liquor store.
This will be his fourth stint in a Georgia prison, according to Department of Corrections records. Olushola was previously convicted of theft by taking, identity fraud and making false statements in Forsyth County. He was released from prison in December 2017, about 17 months before the robbery.
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Dillon said she hopes to put the experience behind her now that her attacker has been sentenced.
“I’m just going to move on,” she told Channel 2. “Live my life.”
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