A 24-year-old Jacksonville man accepted a 14-year prison sentence Thursday for an armed robbery in which the victim was partially strip-searched by her assailant.
Deputy prosecutor Martinique Parker said the sentence for John Diante Johnson, which requires that he serve almost 10 years before parole, includes punishment for his role in a four-man attempt to smuggle marijuana into the county jail using a fishing-pole-like contraption.
He was in jail at the time on his Feb. 10, 2016, arrest after being identified as the armed gunman who had ambushed Shalique Clark at the William Manor apartments at 700 Poplar St. in Jacksonville.
Clark, 29, said the robber's hoodie was pulled over his face and she turned over a bag of jewelry that she was carrying after he demanded her money, according to police reports.
The man didn't appear to be satisfied with what she'd given him, she said, and made her lift her shirt while he searched her. He forced her to take her breasts out of her bra and pulled her pants and underwear down to her knees, Clark told investigators.
She said she was able to conceal from him $2,900 that she had in her coat.
The robber left her partially unclothed and made her face away from him while he ran away, the woman said.
Police stopped a car that the robber had been seen entering and arrested the driver, Gregory Henman Jr., the sole occupant of the vehicle, according to a police report.
Henman, who also has been charged in the holdup, said he drove Johnson away from the area, knowing that Johnson had just committed a robbery, according to reports.
Henman, 26, of Jacksonville, also told police that he'd put Johnson in contact with their co-defendant, Christopher Lee Harriell, 27, of North Little Rock.
Henman said Harriell had called him the day of the robbery and asked whether Henman knew anyone who'd be willing to commit a robbery, police reports say. Henman said he put Harriell in touch with Johnson, according to police reports.
All three were charged with aggravated robbery and theft. The charges carry a potential life sentence.
Henman has a court hearing next week, and Harriell is scheduled to stand trial on Valentine's Day.
Johnson pleaded guilty to the charges Monday. He also pleaded guilty to furnishing prohibited articles for trying to smuggle marijuana into the county jail.
Deputy prosecutor Sarah Cowan said Johnson and three jail-mates built and used the fishing-pole device to reel in the drug on April 18, 2016, about two months after Johnson's robbery arrest.
Deputies said the pole device had been constructed out of paper, trash bags and torn bedsheets.
Johnson and the others used the gadget to pick up a weighted bag holding about 4 grams of marijuana that had been thrown between two fences enclosing the jail's W-Unit.
A deputy thwarted the effort, and a fifth man, Victor Gerade Thompson, 29, was arrested on accusations of providing the drugs.
Investigators said Thompson is a cousin of one of the jailed defendants, 29-year-old Robert Young III of Little Rock.
Deputies knew that the men had arranged the drop-off because they had discussed the plan using the jail phones, which are monitored and recorded by authorities, sheriff's officials said.
Young is scheduled to stand trial next week.
Thompson and Marlon Edward James, 46, of Little Rock, have since pleaded guilty to attempt to furnish prohibited items and have been sentenced to probation.
Jose Rigoberto Hernandez Jr., 42, of Conway also received probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count in the case.
Metro on 02/03/2017