Hallwood man sentenced for his part in robbery

By Linda Cicoira

A Hallwood man was sentenced Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court to four years in prison for being an accessory after the fact and robbery by use of threat in incidents that occurred in 2022.

Fifty-year-old Willie Thomas Harmon Jr., of Cherry Street in Pocomoke, was initially charged with robbery by force at Royal Farms, in Nelsonia, and attempting to rob Family Dollar, in Oak Hall, on Dec. 23, 2022.  He was convicted of the lesser charges. All but the unspecified time he served in jail was suspended. Harmon will be on supervised probation for four years.

Harmon was a passenger in a vehicle driven by 35-year-old Charlie Ayres of Snow Hill, Md. when the crimes occurred. The two men were at Royal Farms in Nelsonia when Ayres went behind the counter and robbed the clerk. Harmon’s lawyer said his client didn’t have any other way to get home so he left with Ayres.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan said while Harmon was not the mastermind, he accompanied Ayres. Both men went into Family Dollar in Oak Hall, again to rob. “They got nervous and left,” Morgan said.

Ayres was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison with all but 4.5 years suspended.