Robber convicted same day accomplice is sent to prison

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August 23, 2008

By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG The Press Republican Sat Aug 23, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT

Man found guilty same day accomplice is sent to prison

PLATTSBURGH -- A Plattsburgh man was convicted of robbery Friday morning about an hour after one of his accomplices was sent to prison for the same crime.

Oscar Grice's trial in Clinton County Court began earlier this week, and after two days of testimony and three hours of deliberations, the 33-year-old was convicted of first-degree robbery.

The jury cleared him of third-degree grand larceny in connection with the October 2007 robbery inside an Adirondack Gardens apartment in the City of Plattsburgh.

Grice, who has a lengthy criminal record, was one of four men accused of threatening three people with a gun and lead pipe, binding them with duct tape and robbing them of more than $3,000.

Grice -- along with James Hanson, 21; Michael Lacy, 24; and Robert LaFountain Jr. -- was taken into custody within hours of the holdup and found with an array of evidence from the crime.

Hanson, Lacy and LaFountain later admitted their roles in the strong-armed holdup. Grice was the only one who rejected a plea offer in the case.

His first trial earlier this year ended in a mistrial after a Plattsburgh City Police sergeant mentioned in his testimony that Grice had been in prison before. Since his past record wasn't admissible in the proceeding, Judge Patrick McGill granted a new trial.

Grice now faces eight to 25 years in prison.

The jury decided his fate about an hour after LaFountain appeared in another courtroom, where Judge Kevin Ryan said he was "struck by the brazenness" of the crime.

"You deserve a prison sentence," he told LaFountain before urging him to use his "time in prison to reflect on how you're going to deal with your life when you get out."

During his brief court appearance, LaFountain said he hopes his stay behind bars can help him turn his life around.

"I just want to take the next step to make my life better and be a better person," the 24-year-old Vermontville man said.

He was sentenced to six years in prison and five years post-release supervision on the felony charge of first-degree attempted robbery.

LaFountain had also pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny and received a concurrent sentence of three and a half to seven years in prison on that charge.

He was sentenced as a second felony offender, based on his past burglary and bail-jumping convictions, and was ordered to pay $360 in fees and a surcharge.

Both Hanson and Lacy are already in prison for their involvement in the drug-related robbery inside their former apartment.

avanvalkenburg

@pressrepublican.com