For Your Convenience: Twenty-Two For 22

From the Platte County Prosecutor's office:

A Kansas man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for the armed robbery of a Platte County convenience store.  Brandon Goodwin, 22, received the sentences on January 5 for robbing a clerk of the Trex Mart Convenience Store in Dearborn at gunpoint.

Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said, “This sentence sends a loud and clear message to those who would come to Platte County to commit violent crime:  You will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be punished severely.”

Goodwin’s four accomplices have already been sentenced to prison.  Goodwin pleaded guilty on November 3.

Goodwin admitted that, on September 9, 2008 at approximately 1:00 a.m., he, his cousin Consuella Wright, and her friends Trenae Jones, Clint Jones, and Kenneth Haley went to the Trex Mart Convenience Store in Dearborn. 

Earlier in the night, the group had discussed robbing a drug house in Jackson County but decided it was too dangerous and came to Platte County to rob a convenience store instead.

Goodwin went inside the store and, as he pretended to pay for the gas, pointed a gun at the clerk and took cash from register.  Goodwin then ordered the clerk to get money from the safe.  Prior to leaving the store, Goodwin took the clerk’s cell phone and the cordless business phone. 

The getaway vehicle, driven by Clint Jones, was stopped by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department following a high-speed pursuit.  During the pursuit, Wright and Trenae Jones concealed the money stolen by Goodwin in their undergarments.  The gun and stolen money were recovered during the stop. 

The crime was captured on the store’s surveillance system.

Zahnd said, “I commend the fine work of the deputies who apprehended the defendant, the detectives who spent countless hours investigating this case, and the assistant prosecutors who tirelessly sought justice.  We are lucky to live in a county where law enforcement has the resources to ensure that violent crime is met with serious punishment.”

Judge Abe Shafer sentenced Goodwin to 22 years in prison for the robbery and 5 years in prison for armed criminal action.  He ordered those sentences to run concurrently. Goodwin will be required to serve 85% of his prison term prior to becoming eligible for parole.

After a jury trial, Wright was convicted of first degree robbery and armed criminal action.  She was sentenced to 10 years in prison. 

Clint Jones pleaded guilty to robbery in the second degree and felony resisting arrest by fleeing.  He received an eight-year prison term.

Trenae Jones pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence and received three years in prison.   

Kenneth Haley pleaded guilty to felony stealing and was sentenced to two years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Platte County Sheriff's Department.  It was prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutors Chris Seufert and Justin Kalwei.