Man sentenced to 5½ years in prison after violent robbery

A masked, 19-year-old man who used a stolen, loaded, semi-automatic rifle in robbing and confining a woman is going to prison for five-and-a-half years.

“The public has the right to be free of gratuitous crime,” Judge Daryl Labach said as he imposed the sentence, which he said is intended to deter the offender, Terence Eugene Desjarlais, and others from committing such crimes.

Desjarlais pleaded guilty to five of 13 charges Tuesday morning, following Monday’s testimony from the victim.

Michelle Michael, 41, said she was invited to a house on the 400 block of Avenue G South last Dec. 10, by a young female acquaintance and that once there, she was confronted by a man with a rifle and a bandana covering part of his face.

He pulled her into the porch, demanded her belongings and money and threatened her with the gun.

The man fired the rifle close enough to Michael’s face that she felt a blast of air. Police later found a bullet hole in the porch wall and a casing on the nearby window sill.

He also struck her in the forehead with a the sawedoff stock of the Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic rifle, causing a gash that bled in her face and later required 10 stitches to close.

Three young females helped drag the struggling victim into the living room and searched through her belongings.

The man took cash from Michael’s wallet, and the woman who lived in the house stood by with two small children, then said she wanted the victim’s purse.

Labach found that Desjarlais was moved by Michael’s words after she scolded the thieves and told them they should have more respect for a grandmother.

Desjarlais kept Michael’s money but allowed her to keep her purse and most of her belongings.

As he unlocked the door, Desjarlais gave Michael a hug, apologized and told her not to take it personally.

“This was a despicable, cowardly act by a group of individuals with no respect for the law or the rights of others,” Labach said.

He imposed four sentences of five years and six months to be served concurrently for the unlawful confinement, robbery with a firearm, wearing a mask in the commission of an indictable offence and possessing a firearm he knew was stolen.

Labach gave Desjarlais three months credit on each for the months he spent in secure custody, locked in his cell for 22 hours per day.

He also imposed a concurrent, one-year sentence for threatening to kill the victim.

Desjarlais is banned from possessing firearms for 10 years after his release and must provide DNA for the national data bank.