{"id":336616,"date":"2026-05-28T22:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/336616\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T22:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:52:11","slug":"man-convicted-of-robbery-in-sacramento-county-drone-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/336616\/","title":{"rendered":"Man convicted of robbery in Sacramento County drone theft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SAC20courts20justice20ruling20conviction20purple20still20chyron20frame.jpeg\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"674\" title=\"\" alt=\"in the courts\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"expander\" onclick=\"this.classList.toggle('open');\" wp_automatic_readability=\"1\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"summary\">AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/nation-world\/national\/article280707640.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A Sacramento County jury found LaRalph Choyce guilty of robbery in an aerial drone theft.Prosecutors said the robbery occurred last year when Choyce pointed a gun at the seller.Choyce has two previous robbery convictions and faces up to 35 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n<p>A Sacramento County jury on Tuesday found a man guilty of robbery for stealing an aerial drone at gunpoint from someone trying to sell the drone, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p>LaRalph Choyce, 34, was convicted of the robbery that occurred last summer at an elementary school, the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sacda.org\/2026\/05\/defendant-convicted-of-robbing-victims-drone\/\">Sacramento County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a> announced Thursday in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>On June 19, Choyce met at the elementary school in Sacramento County with someone selling the drone. Prosecutors said Choyce met at the school to buy the drone.<\/p>\n<p>After flying the drone, Choyce brandished a gun and pointed the firearm at the seller before taking the drone and leaving in a vehicle, according to the District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors said authorities found Choyce hiding in the closet of a nearby home. They also said Choyce\u2019s vehicle was found parked outside that home, and authorities found the stolen drone inside the vehicle\u2019s trunk.<\/p>\n<p>Choyce has two previous robbery convictions that are considered strikes under California\u2019s \u201cThree Strikes\u201d law, according to the DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors said Choyce faces a maximum sentence of 35 years to life in prison. On Thursday, Choyce remained in custody at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center near Elk Grove. He is scheduled to return for his sentencing hearing Aug. 14 in Sacramento Superior Court.<\/p>\n<p>        Related Stories from  Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/profile\/239969303\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SAC_LS_2022_Rosalio_Ahumada.JPG\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Rosalio Ahumada\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/profile\/239969303\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rosalio Ahumada<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n<p>            Rosalio Ahumada writes breaking news stories related to crime and public safety for The Sacramento Bee. He speaks Spanish fluently and has worked as a news reporter in the Central Valley since 2004.\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom. Read our AI Policy. A Sacramento County jury found LaRalph Choyce guilty&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-336616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}