BANGOR — A Sangerville man was sentenced to a decade in prison after pleading guilty to an armed robbery in Bingham in 2011 that prosecutors describe as “one of the most violent pharmacy robberies in Maine.”

James Stile, 58, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. in U.S. District court in Bangor on Friday.

Stile’s prison term will be followed with five years of supervised release, and he has been ordered to pay $13,306 in restitution, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In October, Stile pleaded guilty to the September 12, 2011, armed robbery of the E.W. Moore and Sons pharmacy on Maine Street in Bingham. The robbery took place at a time when pharmacy robberies in Maine were on a sharp upward trajectory.

During the robbery, Stile threatened the pharmacy owner and three employees with a sawed-off shotgun, then forced everyone, including a customer who entered the store during the robbery, to lie on the floor behind the pharmacy counter.

After forcing the owner to fill a bag with prescription narcotics, Stile tied the hands and feet of everyone with zip ties before leaving in a minivan.

The pharmacy owner, Chester Hibbard, was able to free himself and watched Stile leave the scene.

Afterward, Hibbard said the robbery, including staring down the barrel of a gun, was “way more threatening” than two previous ones.

“It’s not nice having something like that pointed at you,” he said. “People don’t realize how unnerving that can be.”

Police traced the minivan to Stile’s Sangerville residence and executed a search warrant the next day, finding the dust mask, purple gloves and clothes Stile wore during the robbery.

When imposing the sentence, Woodcock noted the violence and planning involved in the robbery that made it stand out from similar robberies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“This robbery occurred over three and a half years ago at a time when the State of Maine was seeing a substantial increase in pharmacy robberies,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II in the statement.

“This was one of the most violent pharmacy robberies in Maine. We are very fortunate that no one was physically injured,” Delahanty added.