Alabama man gets 15 years for failed toy gun robbery

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama Thu Jan 6, 2011 3:49pm EST

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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - A court in south Alabama sentenced a 19-year-old to 15 years in jail for attempting to rob an old man using a toy gun, authorities said on Thursday.

Steffon Tolver demanded the man's wallet on a street near Dothan in April, threatening him with a toy gun that was also a belt buckle. Tolver ran away when a neighbor saw what was happening and yelled at him.

Nothing was stolen and Tolver was quickly picked up by police.

"Alabama law is based on the opinion of the person being robbed, if they were in fear for their life. In this case, the answer was 'yes'," said Banks Smith, Assistant District Attorney for Houston County, who prosecuted the case.

Houston county judge "Butch" Binford on Wednesday reduced the Alabama state law mandatory sentence of 20 years for robbery with a firearm to the 15 years awarded.

"It was fairer than we would have liked, We consider a violent crime by someone preying on the elderly, 15 years is a gift," said Smith, who declined to give the victim's name.

(Reporting by Verna Gates; Editing by Matthew Bigg and Jerry Norton)
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Comments (2)
SmokeyJoe wrote:
yea, i’m sure locking up this kid for 15 years will do so much to address the underlying causes for him to be attempting to rob someone in the first place.

another life ruined by an out of control system.

Jan 06, 2011 5:30pm EST  --  Report as abuse
GOP2010 wrote:
this scumbag is lucky he didn’t get the full 20 years…
Maybe the next would be criminal will think twice before they pull a crime in the Great State of Alabama. Keep up the good work.

Jan 10, 2011 1:27pm EST  --  Report as abuse
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