Tribune staff reports

A 33-year-old man who recently pleaded guilty to armed robbery in connection with the holdup of a Seymour convenience store in February 2016 has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

Keith Crews of Seymour could serve just four years of that sentence after Jackson Circuit Court Judge Richard W. Poynter suspended three years.

Poynter told Crews if he served the first four years of his sentence without any rule violations, the remaining two could be served on home detention.

Crews also received 360 days of credit and 120 days of good time credit for time served since his arrest Feb. 19, 2016.

Poynter also ordered Crews to not have any contact with Casey’s General Store at Fourth and O’Brien streets or the clerk he robbed on the night of Feb. 16, 2016. No one was injured in the incident reported at 11:55 p.m.

Seymour officers responding to the report were told a man entered the store displaying a bladed weapon and ordered the clerk to turn over all available money.

The man was described by witnesses as white, slender build and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and jeans. He was seen leaving the area north on foot.

Witness statements and surveillance footage led to officers being able to identify the man, Assistant Police Chief Craig Hayes said at the time.

“One of the employees at Casey’s said she recognized him from being in there before,” Hayes said. “Once she went through video footage from when she had worked, she was able to identify him, but she didn’t know his name.”

Officers were able to identify the man as Crews and located where he was staying, Hayes said.

Police executed a search warrant at a residence in the 700 block of Emerson Drive, where they located and arrested Crews without incident.

Hayes said evidence collected at the home linked Crews to the robbery, and he cooperated with the investigation.