Post office robber, asssailant sentenced

A Union Springs man already serving a life sentence in prison received an additional eight years Thursday for an assault and robbery at the Newton Post Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Snyder said U.S. District Court Judge Mark Fuller sentenced Mark Perry to an eight-year sentence for each federal charge of assault and robbery at the post office. Snyder said the two eight-year sentences will run concurrently with each other, but will run consecutive with a life without parole sentence he’s already serving for a prior conviction in Houston County.

A jury found Perry, 39, guilty in February of the two felony crimes. The federal government charged Perry with the robbery and assault at the post office on Dec. 26, 2006. He faced up to 18 years in prison for both charges.

Snyder said during the trial that about $200 was stolen during the robbery. Perry was arrested after the female postal clerk identified him in a photo line up. Snyder called identity the main issue in the case after Perry claimed it wasn’t him at the post office.

“I’m glad he was brought to justice,“ Snyder said. “I’m very happy the victim got to have her day in court, and that someone like this will never see the light of day. People like Mark Perry are the reason why we build jails.“

Perry was convicted of first-degree sodomy in 2007 during a trial held in Houston County Circuit Court. He was found not guilty of robbery. A Houston County judge sentenced Perry to serve life without parole for the sodomy conviction.

Don Bethel, who represented Perry out of the Federal Defender’s Office, declined to comment.