Kansas City man sentenced in robbery spree, including one where store clerk was killed
A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for a series of Kansas City robberies, including one where a store clerk was beaten and fatally shot in 2018.
Louis Candler, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty in May to four felonies, including conspiracy to commit robbery and aiding the possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. He was assigned the prison sentence during a hearing Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
Candler admitted to participating in a robbery conspiracy involving five others between June and July 2018. He was present at two armed holdups at Kansas City hotels before the deadly robbery of a convenience store in the Swope Parkway-Elmwood neighborhood, according to prosecutors.
On July 16, 2018, Candler and Joe Lee Nichols, 30, robbed the Inner City Oil gas station and convenience store at 5901 Swope Parkway. Ira Brown, a 33-year-old clerk, was shot and killed during a struggle inside the store.
Surveillance video captured footage of the robbery where Nichols is seen pointing a gun, struggling with the store clerk and shooting him before stomping on him. Candler got a hold of the store clerk’s gun and shot him as well, prosecutors said.
Both left the convenience store after they were unable to get into the cash register, according to prosecutors. Brown was left dying on the store’s floor.
Nichols pleaded guilty in February to seven felonies stemming from the robbery conspiracy. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
