Cain sentenced in federal court
A Franklin County man who pleaded guilty in June to the September 2009 armed burglary of Phil Campbell Drugs was sentenced to 27 years in prison by a federal judge on Thursday.
Steven Jeffrey Cain, 51, 3642 Franklin 20, Phil Campbell, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler to 210 months in prison on the armed burglary charge and 120 months in prison on each of three counts of being a convicted felon in possession of firearms, officials said.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, the armed burglary and felon in possession sentences will be served concurrently.
Coogler also sentenced Cain to 120 months in prison on a charge of using a firearm during a crime of violence. That 10-year sentence must be served consecutively to the other sentences imposed.
Cain was additionally ordered to pay $2,043 in restitution to Phil Campbell Drugs.
“The long prison sentence imposed on this defendant today means communities in Franklin County will be safer,” U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance said in a statement. “Cain was an acknowledged drug abuser, drug trafficker and a thief. He has shot at police officers and can only be described as a dangerous man.
“I applaud the work of police in Phil Campbell and Russellville who joined with county, state and federal partners to bring Cain to justice.”
The original charges stemmed from the Sept. 11, 2009, burglary of Phil Campbell Drugs where Cain shot ten times at a Phil Campbell police officer who responded to the burglary call.
When Cain accepted a plea agreement from federal officials in June, officials said Cain also acknowledged his involvement in the Sept. 30, 2009, incident near Hometown Pharmacy in Russellville where he shot at a Russellville police officer who responded to a suspicious persons call.
Officials said Cain’s federal indictment for these charges also listed seven prior felony convictions in Alabama.
“This man, after being convicted of multiple felonies in the past, chose to arm himself and break into a pharmacy,” said David Hyche, the resident agent in charge of the case for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “When confronted by law enforcement, he chose to shoot. When we can help our local partners take someone off the street who has made a career of committing felony crimes in Alabama, we are all a little bit safer.
“Mr. Cain freely admitted to investigators that he shot at the Phil Campbell Officer and that he had shot at officers on other occasions. Thankfully, he will not be shooting at any one for at least the next 27 and ? years.”
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Phil Campbell and Russellville police departments, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the ATF all worked together to investigate this case.
