2 Stanly County men sentenced in 2021 armed robberies

CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV) - Two Stanly County men were sentenced by a judge in federal district court on Tuesday in connection with two armed robberies from 2021 in Cabarrus County.

Maliq Parker, 20, was sentenced for his role in the armed robbery of an AT&T Store and attempted armed robbery of Mount Pleasant Sport Goods and Pawn, Inc.

Maliq was sentenced to 210 months in prison.

Sean Parker, 23, was sentenced for his role in only the attempted armed robbery. He was sentenced to 148 months in prison.

Court documents state that in Oct. 2021 Maliq robbed an AT&T Store of cell phones using a 9mm pistol. During the robbery, store employees were forced into a rear office at gunpoint where the merchandise was then taken.

Documents said that Maliq fired his 9mm once while in the rear office.

According to court documents, on November 4, 2021, Maliq and Sean attempted armed robbery at Mount Pleasant Sporting Goods and Pawn, Inc., where they attempted to steal a firearm at gunpoint and also shooting a store owner six times.

Documents state that the victim was able to crawl to a nearby counter and retrieved a firearm and was able to defend himself.

Both Malik and Sean were armed with handguns and shot their firearms during the attempted robbery. According to documents Maliq shot the store owner with the same 9MM pistol used in the AT&T Store robbery.

Sean shot a .40 caliber pistol once, before both men ran out of the store.

As the defendants tried to escape, an off-duty Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office deputy saw the armed men running to their vehicle and engaged them.

The off-duty deputy demanded that Sean drop the gun, but refused and the deputy shot Sean, but he was able to escape in his car and drove away. The off-duty deputy assisted the victim until paramedics arrived, and the victim survived despite gunshot wounds to his arms, legs, and torso, according to court documents.