Atlanta man gets 10 years in prison for 2021 armed robbery in Smyrna

Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady, Jr.’s office announced Tuesday that an Atlanta man, Vaschon Lemon West, has pleaded guilty to a July 2021 armed robbery of a Smyrna drugstore and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

West, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery. According to the sentence handed down by Cobb Superior Court Chief Judge Gregory Poole, he received the 10 year sentence and will have to serve 10 years of probation once he is out of jail.  

According to the July 26, 2021 warrant for his arrest, West confessed to holding up a Walgreens in Smyrna on July 15, 2021. The warrant says West pointed a pistol at the store’s cashier, grabbed her, and stole the money from the cash register. Following his arrest in this case, West admitted to another robbery in Gwinnett County. 

While in jail awaiting trial on the armed robbery charge, trouble found its way to West again. Cobb County Sheriff’s deputies learned that West and others had attacked an inmate on May 7, 2022, stabbing him near the eye. 

That attack was caught on camera and considered gang related. As a result, West pleaded to an additional count of aggravated assault, one count of unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution and one count of violation of street gang terrorism and prevention act. 

According to the Cobb DA’s office, West was sentenced to 10 years for those crimes, which will be served concurrently with the 10-year armed robbery sentence.