By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
Another of the young defendants charged with armed convenience-store and home-invasion robberies on consecutive dates in January 2007 in Joplin was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison.
Stafford W. Griffin Jr., 20, 2935 N. Michigan Ave., pleaded guilty in March to a single count of first-degree robbery in a plea agreement with the Jasper County prosecutor’s office that dismissed three other felony counts he was facing. The agreement also limited the prison time he might be required to serve to no more than 10 years.
Circuit Judge Gayle Crane accepted the plea agreement and imposed the sentence at a hearing Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court.
The count to which Griffin pleaded guilty concerned a robbery Jan. 2, 2007, of the Conoco Super Stop at 1201 S. Range Line Road.
Griffin was charged with armed criminal action as well as robbery for his role in the crime.
He faced additional counts of first-degree robbery and armed criminal action for a home-invasion robbery the following day at 528 S. Jackson Ave. Four of the same suspects were accused of going to the home, and stealing cash and drugs at gunpoint.
The home-invasion charges and the count of armed criminal action in the convenience-store robbery were dropped in Griffin’s plea agreement.
The defendant’s younger brother, Rahman Griffin, 18, reached a similar plea agreement with the prosecutor’s office in March. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.
Michael Fields, an 18-year-old co-defendant in both robberies, pleaded guilty earlier this year to first-degree robbery and armed criminal action in the convenience-store case, and was assessed concurrent sentences of 10 and three years.
Jesse Moore, 20, still has charges pending in both robberies.
The youngest of the defendants in the convenience-store case, Aaron Lang, 17, initially was sentenced under the state’s dual-jurisdiction program for juveniles charged with adult offenses. He was sent to the dual-jurisdiction program in Montgomery City, but got into trouble with the program. The dual jurisdiction was revoked and the adult sentences imposed April 28. He is serving concurrent terms of 10 and five years.
Local News
Joplin resident, 20, sentenced to 10 years in ‘long-guns’ case
- Local News
-
-
Couple 'scoop out' ice cream business from the past
When 3-year-old Brynlee Rabel tried coconut ice cream for the first time Tuesday, it was love at first taste. “She got the vanilla, but when she tasted my coconut ice cream she had to have it,” said Kayleigh Daugherty, a Joplin resident who wanted Brynlee to share the same experience she had as a little girl when she visited Anderson’s Ice Cream.
-
Missouri National Guard releases records involving soldiers who looted from Wal-Mart
The Missouri National Guard has released records confirming that four soldiers were disciplined for taking merchandise from the ruins of a Wal-Mart store in Joplin one day after the tornado that devastated the city a year ago.
-
Joplin school board awards contract to complete demolition of JHS
The Joplin Board of Education on Tuesday night accepted a bid for finishing tornado-related demolition at the high school.
-
Auditor cites, commission covers potential shortfall in Jasper County sheriff’s budget
The Jasper County Commission on Tuesday approved the transfer of $23,000 onto the Law Enforcement Sales Tax fund available to the sheriff’s office to cover a potential budget shortfall.
-
Joplin METS director requests space for additional ambulance
If all goes like METS Director Jason Smith hopes, this time next year the service will have two ambulances in Webb City, housed in their own station. At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Smith requested that the council allow the Joplin-based Metro Emergency Transport System to rent or lease space at the former public works building, 110 E. Church St.
-
Mike Pound: Food competitions combine to make culinary heaven
It’s such a great idea, you wonder why someone didn’t think of it before. In fact, it’s such a good idea that it’s possible it came about by accident.
-
Mo. court strikes down part of 2008 harassment law
The Missouri Supreme Court has struck down part of a state harassment law enacted after the suicide of a St. Charles County teenager who was teased over the Internet.
-
Cattle rustlers strike again in SW Mo. county
The plague of cattle rustling goes on in southwest Missouri’s Greene County.
Sheriff Jim Arnott says the latest episode occurred sometime Sunday in Walnut Grove. -
Bids sought for Cherokee County water treatment plant
After many delays, construction bids are being sought for a water treatement plant and water tank for the Spring River Public Wholesale Water District No. 19.
-
Dog helps some get through the court process
Sophie, a mutt of a dog with draping ears and dotted brows, is helping people in St. Louis County court tell stories of crime to judges, investigators and attorneys.
- More Local News Headlines
-
