Rockmart man sentenced to life in prison
Aaron Arrington was found guilty of armed robbery following an incident in January, 2020.
A Polk County Superior Court judge sentenced a Rockmart man to life in prison last week as his connection to a well-known prison gang played into the decision.
Aaron Arrington,
28, was found guilty in June of armed robbery involving an incident in January, 2020, at the Gulf gas station at 1325 S. Main Street in Cedartown.
According to police, Arrington went into the store at approximately 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 14 wearing a mask and demanding money while brandishing a handgun. He later fired over the clerk’s head.
Arrington’s conviction was the first post-pandemic jury trial in the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit.
He was sentenced by Senior Judge Walter Matthews on Aug. 9 after hearing arguments from Tallapoosa Chief Assistant District Attorney Jaeson Smith and Arrington‘s attorney.
Smith argued that Arrington is “too dangerous to be released back into the community” based on his violent history, including aggravated assault against his then seven months pregnant girlfriend and unborn child in Gordon County, and the fact that he had been validated as a Ghost Face Gangster by the Department of Corrections Security Threat Group team
Matthews noted during the sentencing he witnessed “no form of remorse” from Arrington.
“We are glad the judge went with our recommendation of a life sentence. The district attorney’s office has spent the last year building relationships with gang experts across the state and are happy to see those relationships paying dividends,” Smith said after the hearing.
Arrington is not the only gang member to be sentenced lately. Earlier this summer, Judge Mark Murphy sentenced LaRyan Walker, who has ties to the Gangster Disciples gang, to serve 10 years in prison for a robbery in the Grands Food Store parking lot in Cedartown.