Two Starkville men received 15-year sentences to the Mississippi Department of Corrections after pleading guilty in an armed robbery case in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court.
Fajion Hill, 21, and Rodriquez Norman, 23, were indicted for two counts each of armed robbery in January 2018 for a May 2017 incident at the Camelot Apartments on North Montgomery Street. They were charged for threatening two victims with handguns to steal money and cell phones during the incident.
Hill pleaded guilty on Tuesday — the same day his case was scheduled to go to trial. Mississippi 16th Circuit Judge Lee Coleman sentenced Hill to 15 years in MDOC, with five suspended and 10 to serve for the lesser included charge of robbery on one of the counts. Hill also received a $1,200 fine.
Coleman dismissed Hill’s second armed robbery count based on his guilty plea.
Norman also pleaded guilty on Tuesday. Like Hill, his charge was reduced to robbery and the second charge was dismissed. He also received a 15-year sentence with five years suspended, 10 to serve and a $1,200 fine.
Starkville Police Department arrested two other suspects — Sydney Westmoreland Marvelous Houston — in the case. They had not yet been convicted, as of Friday morning.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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