ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Wednesday admitted robbing five St. Louis-area gas stations and a Walgreens store of cash and cigarettes in less than a month in 2021.
Leonard Love, 53, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to six robbery charges and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a robbery.
In each of the robberies, Love handed a note to a store employee and pointed a gun at employees or, in one case, displayed the gun. Three of those notes were written on pages from a “Relapse Prevention Counseling Workbook” that was being used in a drug treatment class Love was attending. Love’s DNA was on the notes and he left his cell phone behind after one robbery.
Love admitted as part of his plea robbing a Walgreens at 4218 Lindbergh Boulevard in St. Louis at 1:25 a.m. on June 19 of cash and 20 cartons of Kool brand cigarettes.
On June 23 at midnight, he robbed the Circle K at 10691 St. Charles Rock Road in St. Ann of cash and two cartons of cigarettes.
A week later at 11:42 p.m., Love robbed the Mobil gas station at 2600 Lemay Ferry Road in south St. Louis County.
During a robbery on July 9 at midnight at the U-Gas at 10743 Watson Road in Sunset Hills, the clerk initially refused to comply with Love’s note demanding money. Love pulled a gun, pointed it at the employee and asked, “Do you want to die?” Love stole cash and multiple cartons of cigarettes.
On July 11 1:30 a.m. at the Circle K at 1514 Hampton Avenue in St. Louis, Love stole cash and several cartons of cigarettes.
At 12:42 a.m. the next day, Love stole cash from the Mobil on the Run at 1401 South Fifth Street in St. Charles.
During a July 16 search of Love’s home in the 5400 block of Thrush Avenue in St. Louis, FBI agents and police found two guns and clothing used in the robberies.
Love is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8. Both prosecutors and Love’s lawyer have agreed to recommend a sentence of 20 years in prison, but the decision is ultimately up to Judge Autrey.
The FBI and the St. Charles City Police Department, the Sunset Hills Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the St. Ann Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Szczucinski is prosecuting the case.