Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A second man involved in the New Year's Eve robbery of Syracuse Pizza Hut was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court 1 Thursday.
Robert Lafollette, 18, Syracuse, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his role in the armed robbery. Lafollette could have received up to 40 years for the felony crimes of criminal confinement and robbery while armed, but the sentence was lessened per plea agreement.
Lafollette and two other men, Nicholas Ashkins, 17, and allegedly Ryan Kennelley, 17, Syracuse, robbed the store of about $4,000 on Dec. 31. Two men, Lafollette and allegedly Kennelley, went inside the store and forced nine employees into a walk-in freezer at gunpoint while Ashkins waited outside. Ashkins, a former Pizza Hut employee, then came inside and helped take the money. Lafollette admitted to brandishing the gun.
Ashkins was sentenced May 20 to a sentence similar to Lafollette's, and Kennelley is scheduled for a trial in November.
