A 21-year-old Batavia man was ordered held on $50,000 bail today during his arraignment on charges stemming from an alleged robbery in January, just eight days before he was scheduled to be sentenced on an assault conviction.
The timing of the crime and the fact he was not yet identified as the suspect means that if he's convicted on the 12-count Grand Jury indictment, he can't be sentenced as a second felony offender, nor does the robbery constitute a violation of probation since he wasn't on probation yet.
Terrence D. Johnson is facing a possible violation charge, but not because of the alleged robbery.
Johnson was indicted on one count of robbery and 11 counts of grand larceny, 4th.
Each of the eleven grand larceny counts stems from each of the credit or debit cards carried by the victim.
The robbery occurred in the area of 2 School St., Downtown Batavia.
Beyond the usual not-guilty plea, Johnson's attorney, Public Defender Jerry Ader, said there is some question as to whether Johnson was even in the area of School Street at the time the robbery was reported.
After court, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, in answer to a question, said there is physical evidence linking Johnson to the crime.
Before the hearing, members of Johnson's family reached out to local media and said they would like to talk about Johnson, saying, "this is not who he really is," but after the hearing, Ader said he advised them not to grant interviews.
In November, Johnson entered a guilty plea to a gang assault charge for being part of a three-person assault on a person on Holland Avenue over the summer and was sentenced in January to six months in jail and five years probation.
The timing of the conviction, the second alleged crime without him being identified as a suspect, followed by his sentencing, means the original sentence stands and he can't be sentenced as a second felony offender. If he were considered a second felony offender, then the minimum range of a possible prison term would be longer. Either way, the maximum possible sentence is 25 years.
A violation of probation charge has not been brought against Johnson yet, but he allegedly left the county and violated curfew while on probation.
