14 Years for robbery of tortilla factory

Posted: Saturday, December 26^th, 2015. 8:29 p.m. CST

By Aaron Humes: 23 year-old Joseph O’Brien began a 14 year prison sentence for robbery and aggravated assault after being found guilty of robbing the Golden Corn Tortilla Factory on Central American Boulevard in September of this year.

Three men, one of them armed with a .38 pistol, stormed into the business and snatched the money from the cash pan. One of the robbers then grabbed a cell phone from a worker, and that’s when the owner tackled the man with the gun. His two accomplices ran off, but the employees and the owner subdued the gunman until police arrived and arrested him.

That armed robber was later identified as Joseph O’Brien, and after the owners, the employees and the police investigators testified against him, O’Brien denied committing any crimes. Even though he was caught at the scene, he insisted he was there to buy, not to rob, and he claimed the employees and the owner assaulted him for no reason. Explaining the gun, he claims that it was planted on him, and that he did not take it there.

The Magistrate did not believe his version of the story, and O’Brien was found guilty. He was sentenced to 7 years for the robbery offence, and 7 additional years for the firearm offence. Both sentences are to run consecutively, and so, he will spend 14 years in jail.

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