The man, 22, who often wore a wig and a dress, is sentenced to 30 years for seven robberies.
By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
Published September 17, 2005
LARGO - A cross-dressing serial robber who stuck up seven St. Petersburg businesses last year was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday.
Police said Brian Gage, 22, often wore dresses, a wig and high heels when he held up the businesses last year.
"He almost always carried a purse with him and had the victims put money in the purse," prosecutor Scott Rosenwasser said.
He held up book stores, a downtown St. Petersburg liquor store, a cleaners, a food store and a gas station. Family members told police Gage robbed to support a drug habit.
His total take: about $4,700.
Rosenwasser said some of the robbery victims told police they were held up by a woman. Others could tell it was a man dressed like a woman. Police said Gage may have dressed like a woman even when he wasn't robbing stores.
He robbed five stores with a gun and two with a knife, Rosenwasser said.
Gage was caught after bookstore employees copied down a tag number of a customer acting suspicious. That led detectives to Gage's home. He confessed his involvement.
Gage, of St. Petersburg, pleaded guilty to seven armed robbery charges after an agreement with prosecutors Friday. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Richard Luce sentenced him.
He will receive credit for the time he has spent in jail since his October arrest, but won't receive any gain time. He will be about 51 years old upon his release from prison.
