Robber who targeted McHenry Co. Walgreens stores gets 21 years

A Chicago man linked to at least a half-dozen drugstore robberies last year was sentenced Thursday to 21 years in prison for sticking up a pair of McHenry County Walgreens stores in early 2009.

The sentence, handed down by McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather, was the minimum John Malaszenko, 57, of the 9900 block of South Longwood Drive, faced after pleading guilty in May to two counts of armed robbery stemming from holdups of Walgreens stores in Crystal Lake and Fox River Grove on Jan. 28, 2009 and Feb. 10, 2009, respectively.

He also was charged in connection with the Feb. 3, 2009 robbery of a Walgreens in Cary, but that charge was dismissed as part of a plea bargain.

The prison term will run concurrently with a 21-year sentence Malaszenko received earlier this year in connection with three armed robberies of drugstores in Cook County. Armed robbery normally is punishable by six to 30 years in prison, but state law requires an additional 15 years added on for cases in which the robber uses a firearm.

Prosecutors in May said Malaszenko told police, shortly after being caught red-handed in the Fox River Grove heist, that he targeted drugstores because he "thought it would be easy."

Authorities said Malaszenko followed a similar script in each robbery: He walked into the store, brought a piece of candy and a magazine to the front counter and when the clerk opened the store's register he would pull out a handgun and demand cash.

He was arrested, cash and gun in hand, moments after the Fox River Grove heist by police waiting outside. They had been tipped off by store employees who called after recognizing Malaszenko from fliers distributed after the Cary and Crystal Lake robberies.

His attorney, Senior Assistant Public Defender Richard Behof, blamed Malaszenko's actions on drug addiction.

"He had lived a law-abiding life for the previous 30 years," Behof said. "Then he ended up getting back involved with narcotics."