URBANA – A Chicago man was sentenced to three years probation after saying he was armed with a firearm during the robbery of a gas station in northwest Champaign earlier this year.
Randy C. Copeland, 20, pleaded guilty this week to aggravated robbery while admitting to possession of a firearm. Champaign County Judge Matt Lee accepted the sentence negotiated between the state and Gibson’s attorney, public defender Tammy Baer.
In exchange for the confession, the state dropped a charge of armed robbery with a firearm, a Class X felony.
Champaign police responded to a report of an armed robbery at a business in the 1200 block of North Mattis Avenue around midnight on April 23. At the scene, officers learned that two masked men robbed the business of approximately $3,000 in cash before running away.
During the robbery, one man told the clerk he had a gun while a second man stood guard, said Assistant District Attorney Chris McCallum. No one was injured.
Police recovered surveillance footage from the store and deployed a police dog to search the area. Officers then located two suspects leaving a home in the 1400 block of Holly Hill Drive at 12:49 a.m. and conducted a traffic stop.
At 7:11 a.m., investigators executed a search warrant for the home on Holly Hill Drive. While searching the home, they found clothing matching the description of the robbers seen on camera, but no weapons.
Officers then arrested Copeland and Travon M. Gibson, 19, of Hammond, after identifying them from surveillance video that showed them without a mask at the same supermarket on a previous occasion, McCallum said.
In the earlier incident, Gibson and Copeland appear to have gotten into an argument with the worker.
They had the same physical stature and wore similar clothing as the two masked robbers who later entered the store, McCallum said.
While in police custody, Gibson identified Copeland from photographs officers showed him, McCallum said. Gibson appeared to have served as a guard during the robbery, the prosecutor added.
Copeland faced four to 15 years in prison for aggravated robbery, a Class 1 felony that is subject to probation, with credit for 120 days he had already served in jail. Gibson was sentenced to two years’ probation in July after pleading guilty to the same charge.
