Prison for Salem robber

SALEM – A Salem woman who admitted stealing about $250 at knifepoint from a take-out restaurant on Boston Street in Salem received a 5-to-7-year prison term.In Salem Superior Court Thursday afternoon, Carolyn Gillis, 32, who last lived at 191 Federal St., #1, in Salem, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a knife, before Judge Howard J. Whitehead.It was around 9 p.m. on June 9 when Gillis, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt drawn tightly so only a small section of her face was exposed, walked into the Honga Restaurant at 6 Boston St., in Salem. There, she reached over the counter and grabbed a female cashier, pressing a knife to her wrist and demanded all the cash from the register.She fled the scene with approximately $250. Police searching the area nearby found a black sweatshirt containing a wad of cash behind 191 Federal St.A witness told authorities he observed a female run abruptly past him and then spotted that same female again on Boston Street and called police.Gillis was arrested and charged with the holdup the next day.Whitehead found that Gillis also violated her probation terms in connection with a string of robberies out of Lynn and Salem in 2002 and sentenced her 5-to-7 years, to be served simultaneously with her new prison term.