Two women who robbed VFW Post 4272 in Columbus in 2023 were sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to armed robbery this week in Lowndes County Circuit Court.
A man accused of a separate 2022 armed robbery at a convenience store also had his day in court, according to 16th Circuit District Attorney Scott Colom.
Andrea Wilson, 48, pleaded guilty to armed robbery Monday, Colom said. Shanta Henley, 37, also pleaded guilty to armed robbery Wednesday.
Judge Michelle Easterling sentenced Wilson to 15 years, with 10 years to serve, while Easterling sentenced Henley to 20 years, with 15 years to serve, Colom said.
With those sentences, all three women involved in the robbery are on their way to prison, Colom said, since Wilson’s daughter, Alexis Harris, 27, also pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to armed robbery and aggravated assault. Her sentences on both charges are concurrent, and Harris will serve 20 years total, Colom said.
Wilson had started visiting the VFW Post to receive aid, when she started planning to rob it, Colom said. She recruited her daughter and Henley, a family friend, to help her with the robbery.
While Wilson waited in the car to act as a getaway driver, Harris and Henley put on masks and entered the VFW Post, Colom said, which was hosting a bingo night.
The week after the robbery, Columbus Police Chief Joseph Daughtry said a 62-year-old bartender was struck in the head with a handgun during the holdup. Harris was responsible for the assault, Colom said.
After the attack, Harris and Henley started stealing money, Colom said.
The three women were arrested when an off-duty investigator saw a car matching the description of their vehicle.
“This is an example of people violating the trust of an important civic organization, and violating people that served their country, and just are trying to gather together and enjoy each other and be peaceful,” Colom said. “The kind of people that help other people. And the fact that these two people … violated that trust and robbed them and assaulted them, it was something that my office took very seriously and we had to prosecute very aggressively. We have to protect people’s safety in these civic spaces.”
In a separate case, a man accused of robbing the Chevron on Highway 45 in May 2022 was also found guilty Wednesday in Lowndes County Circuit Court.
Ronnie Lewis Mixon Jr., 38, was convicted of armed robbery, Colom told The Dispatch.
Colom said Mixon had previously come to the gas station as a customer, and an employee recognized him running away during the robbery. Mixon was then arrested on the scene, with items from the robbery in his possession, he said.
The jury deliberated for about 45 minutes before delivering the verdict. Judge Jim Kitchens sentenced Mixon to 25 years, with 20 years to serve, Colom said.
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