An Allegheny County man will spend up to three years in prison for robbing a 70-year-old woman outside the Harmony-Zelienople United Methodist Church.

Elliot J. Mullen, 34, pleaded guilty to robbery, and he was sentenced Thursday by Butler County Judge Timothy McCune. When Mullen completes his 18 to 36 months in state prison he will serve another year on probation.

According to court records, Mullen and his sister Marquita J. Mullen, 30, both of Carnegie, Allegheny County, drove to the borough Jan. 28 and spotted the victim, a Cranberry Township woman.

The woman, a Christian counselor, was there to meet a client. Elliot Mullen grabbed the purse and a briefcase from the unsuspecting woman, who was knocked to the ground, according to court documents.

Marquita Mullen, the alleged getaway driver, was in a car. She drove off onto Interstate 279 after her brother made it into the vehicle with the victim’s items.

Minutes later, a Cranberry Township patrolman spotted the suspects’ car and followed it into Allegheny County, where he was assisted by several other departments in stopping the vehicle at the Bellevue/Westview exit, documents said.

Marquita Mullen already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. She was sentenced in May to serve 3 to 6 months in prison followed by 18 months probation.

Both defendants must split the $110 in restitution owed to the victim.

Authorities previously said the Mullens are suspects in other purse-snatchings in Allegheny and Beaver counties and in West Virginia, investigators said.