Teens found guilty of robbery
Judge Colston, saying they showed no remorse, sentences them to 45 years, to serve 15.
Two Rome teens found guilty of the January armed robbery of John’s Grocery were each sentenced to 45 years Thursday, with 15 years to serve in prison and the balance on probation.
Floyd County Superior Court Judge Tami Colston also sentenced the getaway car driver, Brayden James Routledge, to serve five years of a 20-year sentence.
Colston said Raquavious Leequon Driver and Jabrious Timion Smith, both 18 now, showed no remorse.
“It’s a sad day when you have to sentence such young, young men on a charge so serious,” Colston said. “But when you take a gun and point it at someone and take their money. …”
Routledge, also 18, cooperated with investigators and was allowed to plead to a lesser charge of robbery with first-offender status. If he completes his probation with no incidents, his conviction will be erased.
“He’s the only one to take responsibility out of this group and, really, he had the least to do with it,” Colston said.
The judge said Driver and Smith would be held responsible if their supporters continue to harass Routledge’s family online and at their home.
She also suggested the two complete their high school diplomas online while incarcerated.
“You’ll still be fairly young when you get out of prison,” she noted.
District Attorney Leigh Patterson said she’s asked the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Department of Corrections not to house Routledge near the others.
Billy Kennedy Bell, 19, who went into the store with Driver and Smith, pleaded guilty to charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault earlier this month and was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison.
According to previous reports from the trial:
On Jan. 17, the four rode to the store at 3218 Kingston Highway in Routledge’s blue Dodge Dakota, which he parked on Sproull Road behind the store.
Smith, Driver and Bell went into the store with a gun and their faces covered. They told a customer to get on the ground, then Driver pointed the pistol in the face of the clerk and they grabbed about $200 in cash.
But a woman noticed the strange truck on Sproull Road and wrote down the tag number. She passed it to a neighbor, a retired police officer, and investigators tracked down Routledge.
Relatives of Driver and Smith asked for mercy before the sentencing, telling of hardships they endured growing up and emphasizing their youth.
“Don’t take his whole life away from him. Give him time to grow … and wherever he goes, get him help,” Driver’s aunt said through tears.
However, Assistant District Attorney Kay Ann Wetherington said Driver has a number of juvenile convictions and the two also are due to stand trial in a series of robberies of taxi drivers last winter.
Driver and Smith were found guilty on charges of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault with intent to rob, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, theft by taking, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and two counts of pointing a gun at another.