A Chicago woman was sentenced Wednesday in connection with a robbery of a couple in Munster who were selling an iPad through social media.
Shonice Keys-Brown, 22, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty last month to robbery, which is punishable by one to six years.
The couple testified that they still are fearful as a result of the crime, which occurred March 24 in Munster. Court records indicate April Peters and Jerry Snyder had agreed to meet the woman, who used a false name, in the parking lot at Target.
As Peters was showing Keys-Brown the features of the iPad as she stood outside the car that Keys-Brown and an alleged male accomplice arrived in, the man who was driving took out what appeared to be counterfeit money and laid it on his thigh, documents said. At Peters’ request, Snyder came to the window and the man produced what appeared to be a black semi-automatic handgun and placed it on his leg for the couple to see, the plea agreement said. Townsend said they were taking the iPad, and Keys-Brown pulled it from Peters’ hands before they drove away, the agreement said.
“We can’t pass the area where this incident occurred without reliving what happened,” Snyder said at the sentencing hearing.
Peters said she has never considered owning a gun until the incident, which made her consider buying one. “I shouldn’t have to be out in public and feel that people are bad,” she said.
“How can you do that to somebody,” Peters said.
Deputy prosecutor Maryam Afshar argued that Keys-Brown’s criminal record includes a similar crime for which she was convicted last year in Cook County, Ill., and received probation. “She had a chance to prove herself and this is what she did,” Afshar argued.
Co-defendant Michael D. Townsend, 29, of Harvey, Ill., has pleaded not guilty to charges of armed robbery and theft. His case is set for trial on Jan. 8.
Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
