It Pays To HAVE a Gun When U Need One

A Syracuse man shot while trying to rob the owner of a store
in September admitted his guilt in court today.

Rayshawn Johnson, 29, pleaded guilty before state Supreme Court
Justice John Brunetti to felony charges of attempted first-degree
robbery, attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon
and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Johnson admitted being armed with a knife when he tried to rob
an employee of the Los Amigos convenience store at 204 W. Brighton Ave. Sept. 27.

Assistant District Attorney Kari Armstrong said Johnson was threatening
owner Ruben Colon with a large knife when Colon pulled out a gun
to defend himself.

The prosecutor said Johnson tried to grab the gun away from Colon
and was shot once in the side when the gun went off during a struggle
over the weapon.

The third-degree weapons charge relates to the knife Johnson had
while trying to commit the robbery. The attempted second-degree
weapons charge relates to his attempt to wrestle the handgun away
from Colon during the attempted holdup, Ms. Armstrong said.

Armstrong said Colon had a license for the handgun and did
nothing wrong in defending himself against the armed Johnson.

She said the prosecution was looking to have Johnson sentenced to 12
years in state prison for the crime, but Brunetti agreed to sentence
Johnson to nine years in prison if the defendant pleaded guilty to
the entire indictment.

By doing that, the defendant was able to block the prosecution from
having a say in the sentence.

Johnson accepted the judge's offer and pleaded guilty as charged.
Sentencing is set for May 13.