A Gardiner man will spend 37 months in prison for robbing the Shaw’s Osco Pharmacy in Augusta twice within 48 hours last November.

Ryan J. McLaughlin, 27, who also has lived in Dresden and Pittston, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

He had pleaded guilty to a federal robbery charge on April 17 at a hearing in federal court in Portland.

Part of Thursday’s sentence, imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Brock Hornby, includes restitution of $1,996.30 for medical bills sought by a pharmacy employee who says she “fell apart” after being robbed twice by the same person about 48 hours apart.

The robberies were reported at 12:20 p.m. Nov. 11 and 12:25 p.m. Nov. 13.

That restitution was requested by the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig M. Wolff, and detailed in a sentencing memorandum.

In it, Wolff quoted from the victim impact statement, “(After) the first robbery, I told myself it was a one-time occurrence and would never happen to me again. Two days later, when I was robbed again by the same person, I fell apart. I was threatened and felt unsafe.”

Wolff said the employee, who was not named in court documents, has “suffered significant physical symptoms brought on by the stress and anxiety of the robberies.”

The restitution would pay for “necessary medical and related professional services,” Wolff said.

McLaughlin was identified shortly after the robberies and was arrested in Portland. According to investigators’ reports, McLaughlin had a severe drug addiction.

Both times McLaughlin demanded oxycodone, a powerful painkiller. A note used in the first robbery demanded a bottle of 30 mg pills and said, “I don’t care about dying today,” according to Wolff’s sentencing memo. It also said, “McLaughlin kept his right hand in his jacket pocket during the entire encounter.”

On Nov. 13, witnesses described McLaughlin as being more agitated. This time he wanted two bottles of oxycodone and told pharmacy personnel, “Hurry, don’t mess around, faster, faster!”

Again he kept a hand in his pocket “as if he were concealing a weapon,” Wolff wrote.

Wolff argued in his memo for a 37-month sentence, citing among other things McLaughlin’s criminal record, which began at age 14 and continued when he became an adult. Wolff also said McLaughlin had four pending charges in addition to the pharmacy robberies.

“With respect to McLaughlin’s history and characteristics, the most salient fact is his serious and longstanding addiction to controlled substances,” Wolff said. “There is no doubt that this addiction has dominated his life and fueled his criminal conduct.”

The prison term is to be followed by three years of supervised release.

McLaughlin was represented by defense attorney James S. Nixon, who did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams