Original Blog Entry: Man gets 7 years for robbery that netted 86 cents

truesee — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:54:50 GMT

City man gets 7 years for armed robbery that netted 86 cents

Larry Hertz

Poughkeepsie Journal

11:45 PM, Apr. 20, 2011

Michael Armstrong

A City of Poughkeepsie man who took part in a robbery that netted him and his accomplice less than a dollar in change will spend up to seven years in state prison.

You and your accomplice robbed this man, and he was shot, and all you got was 86 cents, Dutchess County Court Judge Stephen L. Greller told 22-year-old Michael Armstrong as he imposed the sentence Wednesday in the County Courthouse.

Armstrong admitted last month that he and 18-year-old Devonte Burks accosted a man Aug. 21 at Academy and Montgomery streets in the city and demanded money.

Burks acknowledged during his plea last month that he was holding a handgun that went off during the robbery, seriously injuring the victim.

He contended that the shooting had been accidental.

Burks faces an 11-year sentence for the crime, Senior Assistant District Attorney Robert Knapp said.

And the whole thing was over some pocket change, Knapp said.

Both men entered guilty pleas to first-degree robbery, a felony.

As part of their plea agreements, Armstrong and Burks will be ordered to pay the victim $65,031 for his medical bills.

Knapp said the victim underwent surgery after he was shot in the stomach.

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