OttawaHerald.com -- Community News. Community Connections.

	Franklin County, Kansas, USA

Subscriber Services Home Delivery Gift Subscription Stop-Start Delivery Missing Paper Back Issues Newsstand Locations Shopper Locations

Advertising Services Manage Your Account Place a Classified Ad Place a Display Ad Advertise Online Business Finder Directory

Other Services Submit News Laminated Items Photos & Keepsakes Article Archives Contact Us History of the Herald Our Policies

Suggest a poll topic

2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 12:35 PM

Wellsville armed robber gets four years

By COURTNEY SERVAES, Herald Staff Writer

Casey McDowell held his daughter close, rocking her gently and cradling her against his right arm.

He and his wife, Amber, sat in the third row, waiting arm in arm — moments away from saying goodbye.

He wasn’t wearing an orange jumper. He wasn’t wearing handcuffs. Rather, McDowell, 29, who pleaded guilty to armed robbery in July, approached the bench with his lawyer wearing simple slacks and a dress shirt, waiting to hear the verdict.

Judge Thomas Sachse read McDowell’s sentence — four years in prison — aloud while he and his family listened just feet away during his sentencing Monday at Franklin County District Court — at which time the judge announces punishment.

“This is a very serious offense, and it’s one that there has to be a consequence of a penitentiary sentence,” Sachse said. “It’s unfortunate.”

An addiction

McDowell was hooked.

That’s why he entered Auburn Pharmacy, 601 Main St., Wellsville, last October — he was addicted, his lawyer, William Grimshaw, said.

“He suffered from a series of injuries and broken bones,” Grimshaw said at McDowell’s sentencing Monday. “He was prescribed oxycodone.”

Oxycodone is a narcotic painkiller similar to morphine. It is known to be habit-forming and normally is used only in cases of severe pain, according to the Web site drugs.com.

McDowell hid his addiction from everyone — even his family, Grimshaw said — until he got caught, until he entered the pharmacy brandishing a handgun and ordered everyone inside to the floor.

Days later, McDowell was arrested following the execution of multiple search warrants, Wellsville Police Chief Steve Gillespie said previously.

A deadly weapon

He carried a gun.

That’s what County Attorney Heather Jones wanted the court to remember — McDowell was armed when he entered the pharmacy.

“One of the special rules in this case is that the court needs to make a finding that the crime was made with a deadly weapon,” Jones said in court.

Jones then asked Sachse to consider what the victims have said, what they have written about the day of the robbery, about their continued fear of McDowell.

“I believe they have all expressed their fears and feelings to the court,” she said.

And McDowell says he knows he was wrong, knows what he did was a crime, his lawyer said.

“He’s talked to me repeatedly about the remorse that he feels,” Grimshaw said.

Saying goodbye

McDowell hugged his wife before he left.

She cried as he was handcuffed and escorted out of the Franklin County District Court.

And she cried when he was gone.

But McDowell’s lawyer said his client knew he had to serve time for the crime he committed.

“It’s unfortunate that this is happening on your first offense,” Sachse told McDowell. “But it’s a very serious offense.”

In addition, Sachse ordered McDowell to register as a serious offender for 10 years — starting the day he is released from jail — and to pay restitution of more than $1,500 for the crime.

“He realizes that he has to pay the price for this very serious crime,” Grimshaw said.