Judge Samuel Cappas told a Chesterton teen that his 20-year split plea deal was half the time he would have given him.
Robert Woodward, 17, pleaded guilty in November to attempted murder for shooting a marijuana dealer and the dealer’s mother during a robbery setup.
His sentence called for 15 years in prison, three years in Lake County Community Corrections and two years probation.
Why was that deal “so lenient,” Cappas asked.
Woodward was “young” and took responsibility, Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Dafoe replied. The two victims weren’t “the most cooperative” or “helpful,” she said.
Defense lawyer Cipriano Rodriguez said Woodward was 16 at the time and argued he was “manipulated” by his three co-defendants.
Woodward said in court he was “truly regretful” for what happened and found mentors in juvenile detention. He turns 18 in less than two weeks.
After reading what happened, “my thought was more like 40 years,” Cappas told him, but said he would accept the plea deal.
Woodward gave a “nice statement” in court, Cappas told him.
He was extradited from Kentucky after his April 2024 arrest.
Lake Station Police responded at 9:16 p.m. April 3, 2024, after the victim called 911, saying he and the relative were shot. He couldn’t see, he told dispatchers.
A witness later reported a black Dodge Journey hitting a fence on the 3200 block of Minnesota Street. A man yelled for help.
The male victim was found shot in the head, while the passenger, his mother, was shot in the throat and chest, charges state. They were taken to a hospital. Investigators couldn’t talk to either victim at the hospital because they were so badly wounded.
Court records show co-defendant Jeremiah Rogers’ phone texted the victim between 4:40 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Rogers told the man to meet him at his aunt’s house on the 3200 block of Minnesota Street. It was a vacant house.
Police learned that Woodward wanted to rob a marijuana dealer to make “fast money.” Woodward was messaging the victim on Rogers’ phone. Rogers called co-defendant Makhia Fraley, the driver and his child’s mother, to pick him and Woodward up, saying they were going to buy marijuana, then headed to Gary to pick up co-defendant Jehad Colvin.
Surveillance videos show Fraley’s car parked a block away near Rosser Park on the 3300 block of Oregon Street at 9:05 p.m. The car appeared to speed off at 9:13 p.m.
Woodward, Rogers, and Colvin walked a block over to the victim’s SUV.
Woodward asked to see the marijuana, appeared to grab or lose his grip on the bag, then shot three times into the SUV, court records state.
Rogers ran as the first shot was fired; Colvin and Woodward, who slipped in the mud, followed. Afterwards, they were “shocked” the shooting happened.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Woodward claimed when asked why he did it, court records state.
Fraley drove to get gas and dropped them back off in Burns Harbor. Woodward appeared to be “making jokes” and “laughing” afterward, court records state.
Rogers got a 12-year split term in March after pleading guilty to robbery resulting in serious bodily injury.
Colvin and Fraley’s cases are still pending.
mcolias@post-trib.com