Dracut man sentenced in armed Christmas Eve robberies

A Dracut man was sentenced to over 12 years in prison Thursday after robbing three convenience stores at gunpoint on Christmas Eve in 2020.

Michael Vangpa, 33, robbed two convenience stores in Lowell and one in Tewksbury within an hour while brandishing a gun, according to U.S. Attorney Rachel Rollins’ office.

In one of the robberies, Vangpa discharged the firearm into cardboard boxes under the register while demanding money from the cashier. In the other robberies, he struck the cashier in the head with the gun and made customers get on the ground.

U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin sentenced Vangpa to 150 months in prison and five years of supervised release.