A Jefferson City man was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty in robbery and assault cases he had been charged in.
During a hearing Tuesday before Cole County Judge Jon Beetem, Cortez Burton, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree robbery which occurred in Dec. 2018.
Burton was one of four men charged in this incident.
Latrell Batts, 21, is charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
Andrew Dixson, 28, and Jamel Sutton, 21, are each charged with one count of first-degree robbery in this case.
All three men are set to be in court in February on their cases.
The robbery occurred in the 1600 block of East Elm Street, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement.
The victim told police he was walking to his home when a vehicle, driven by Sutton, stopped next to him. Dixson and Burton got out of the vehicle, hitting the man with a car door.
Burton went through the man’s pockets while Dixson held a gun on him.
Dixson, Sutton and Burton fled the area, but they eventually were picked up by officers in the 300 block of Tanner Bridge Court, while Batts managed to get away and wasn’t picked up by authorities until later.
The man earlier had identified the four as being involved in the robbery. Burton and Dixson denied any involvement in the robbery, while Sutton admitted his role and gave a detailed account of the incident.
A witness saw Batts after the robbery and saw he was wet with sweat and had a pistol tucked in his waistband. A second witness saw Batts before the robbery and said they heard Batts planning to rob someone that night and saw him in possession of a pistol. When questioned, Batts denied partaking in the robbery.
Also Tuesday, Burton pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault for an incident that occurred in July. Prosecutors dismissed charges of armed criminal action, second-degree kidnapping and second-degree tampering with a motor vehicle that Burton had been facing in this case.
The victim in this case drove a friend to the Phillips 66 on Stadium Boulevard, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement.
The victim said he parked near the gas pumps then waited outside in his vehicle while his passenger went inside the station.
A short time later, the victim claimed, several people surrounded his vehicle and Burton opened the driver’s door, removed a handgun from his waistband and held it against the victim’s stomach, telling the victim he was defending his “little brother.”
The victim told police he grabbed onto the gun and tried to push his way past Burton, but Burton struck him twice on his head. Officers reported the victim had a lump on his cheek and on the back of his head consistent with what he claimed to have happened.
The victim also told police he had been involved in an earlier disturbance with an individual who he believed was Burton’s little brother.
For his guilty pleas in these cases, under an agreement with the prosecutor’s office, Burton will serve 120 days shock detention in prison. If he successfully completes programs he’s required to do in prison, he will be released and put on probation. However, under terms of the agreement, if he fails to meet the requirements in prison or if he would violate terms of his probation, Burton would be facing a 10-year prison term.