HANCOCK COUNTY — One of four Indianapolis teenagers charged with robbing two Hancock County gas stations with handguns in July 2018 was sentenced to Wednesday to several years in prison.
William Dodd, 18, Indianapolis, received a nine-year sentence for two Level 3 felony charges of armed robbery. Five of those years will be suspended with four to be served.
Dodd will spend three years in prison; the fourth year will be served through Hancock County Community Corrections, Judge Terry Snow ruled.
Hancock County deputy prosecutor Kevin Kelly had asked Snow, who presides in Hancock County Superior Court 1, to leave the fourth year unspecified depending on how the prison stint goes. However, the judge decided the fourth year will be spent in work-release.
Before Snow handed down the sentence Dodd told the court he “wanted to go home,” and that he was sorry for his crimes.
With four members of the Dodd family in court to hear his fate, the judge told the defendant, who was 17 when he committed the crimes, to get an education and maintain family support or he’ll more than likely end up in trouble again.
“You’re an 18-year-old man who’s going to have it tough to do everything in the world to get that (conviction) off your back, but it will all depend on how hard you work and the positive things you do,” Snow said.
Snow left the teen with one final thought before Dodd was escorted out in handcuffs. He told Dodd he didn’t want to see him come through the Hancock County courts again.
“Mr. Dodd, in all honesty, I sincerely hope you are successful,” the judge said. “I don’t want him coming back here.”
His mother told the Judge he would not be in further trouble and said he had no issues before the armed robberies in 2018.
Dodd was part of a group of teens who entered the Speedway station at Mt. Comfort Road and U.S. 40 on July 16, 2018, and demanded money from the clerk. Investigators say about 10 minutes later, the same group of boys entered the Circle K at Interstate 70 and Mt. Comfort Road and threatened the employee there, as well.
The robbers made off with about $400 total and dozens of cigars and packs of cigarettes, court documents showed.
After the crimes were reported, police stopped their car on Interstate 70 at the State Road 9 exit. The vehicle matched a description of the robbers’ car given by a witness. The teens inside matched the description of the robbers, and they were taken into custody.
The other young men associated with the crimes await sentencing. Joseph Avery Holmes, now 17, is scheduled to be sentenced, May 29. Dalyn Marshan Whitfield, 18, has already agreed to a plea deal. Whitfield received the same sentence as Dodd, nine years with five years suspended for two Level 3 felony charges of armed robbery. Charges against a fourth person have been dismissed.
