U.S. man gets five years in Canadian prison for robbing grocery stores

VANCOUVER – An American man convicted in a series of armed robberies around Vancouver has been handed a five-year prison sentence.

Thomas Schwartz, also known as Tom Stone, was extradited from the United States to face the robbery and weapons charges in British Columbia.

Vancouver police say they were on Schwartz’s trail when he was picked up by authorities in the U.S. in December 2012.

American police arrested him on an outstanding warrant from 1972 related to allegations of desertion from the U.S. air force.

When the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Canada began looking into the 68-year-old man’s background they found he had been living in Canada under an assumed name.

Schwartz was accused of robbing eight neighbourhood grocery stores in Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver and Burnaby.