Elkhart men admit to store robbery

Apr. 10—GOSHEN — Two Elkhart men each face prison terms of close to two dozen years after admitting they robbed a Dollar General store two years ago.

Zirei Jackson, 22, and Kar'Dai Grant, 20, appeared for hearings in Elkhart County Circuit Court Thursday.

Jackson and Grant both pleaded guilty to a Level 3 felony count of armed robbery and two Level 3 felony counts of criminal confinement. Terms of their pleas call for them to both be sentenced to 23 years in prison with five years of probation.

Another criminal confinement charge, along with a count of carrying a handgun as a felon, were dismissed.

The two admitted they held up the Dollar General store along East Bristol Street in Elkhart in September 2019. During the robbery, Jackson and Grant, armed with handguns, had forced three victims into a back room. One of the victims was also forced to open a safe so money could be stolen, according to police reports.

Jackson and Grant were arrested after police cut off their escape from the rear of the store.

Broken down, the plea terms call for the two to serve eight years in prison on the robbery charge and 15 years on the criminal confinement charges, with each to run consecutively.

Judge Michael Christofeno accepted the plea agreements and convicted Grant and Jackson. He then scheduled May 6 for their sentencing hearings.

SENTENCING

Several other hearings were held in Circuit Court Thursday.

Among them, Arturo Rocha Jr., 22, of Elkhart was sentenced in a drug dealing case.

The sentence called for Rocha to serve 12 years in prison, six years in an alternative placement program, and four years of probation. He was also ordered to go through a therapeutic addictions treatment program in prison once he's served the equivalent of eight years.

Rocha pleaded guilty in March to a Level 2 felony count of dealing cocaine. He admitted he had more than 10 grams of the drug when he was arrested as part of an investigation in late 2019. His sentence followed terms of the plea agreement.

MURDER CASE

The trial of two men charged with murdering a man in Bristol has been pushed back to October.

Luis Garcia, 21, of Elkhart, and Carlos Escobar-Escobedo, 19, of Aurora, Illinois, are accused of killing Joshua Roberts, 21, during an apparent robbery in October 2020. Roberts was found dead when police responded to a vehicle crash in the Timberbrook Mobile Home park along C.R. 19.

Their trial was scheduled to begin May 3. During Thursday's hearing, Escobar-Escobedo's attorney asked to move back the trial to allow for more time to prepare a defense. Garcia's attorney didn't oppose the move.

Judge Christofeno accepted the request and rescheduled the trial to begin Oct. 18.

GUILTY PLEA

Donald Wilson III, 53, of Elkhart pleaded guilty to a Level 2 felony count of dealing methamphetamine.

Terms of his agreement call for a prison sentence capped at 20 years, and attorneys can argue for him to be placed in a therapeutic addictions treatment program. Three other counts, including two other meth dealing charges and one for maintaining a common nuisance, were dismissed as part of the plea.

Wilson admitted he and another woman, Ashley Demerly, dealt meth during an undercover investigation in 2018. In an affidavit, police alleged the two sold nearly 30 grams of the drug in June and July 2018.

Judge Christofeno accepted the plea and convicted Wilson. He then scheduled the sentencing hearing to be held May 6.

Demerly, 34, was sentenced in January to 13 years in prison in her case. She had pleaded guilty to a Level 2 felony count of dealing methamphetamine.

Aimee Ambrose can be reached at aimee.ambrose@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240316. Follow her on Twitter at @aambrose_TGN.