McLean County Law and Justice Center. (WJBC file photo)
By Joe Ragusa
BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington man has been sentenced to eight years behind bars for his role in an armed robbery.
Colby Aiknes was sentenced earlier Friday after pleading guilty charges of armed robbery stemming from an incident in August 2013.
Aiknes told judge Robert Freitag that he wanted to withdraw his plea and receive a new attorney, but Freitag denied that request, saying Aiknes can file a formal appeal and request for a new attorney within 30 days.
Shante Tullock, the mother of Aiknes' child, says defense attorney David Rumley was not easy to reach.
"He's always coming to the cases empty handed. He's always late, everytime," Tullock said.
Aiknes said in court that he wasn't sure what he was pleading guilty to when he agreed to a plea deal in October. He said Rumley told him prior to the trial that the case would be dismissed because the prosecution didn't have a strong enough case. That did not happen.
Eemer Henderson is already serving a 12-year sentence for the same robbery and Carlos Mason will stand trial on Feb. 2.
Aiknes is required to serve at least 50-percent of his sentence and was given credit for 87 days served in jail. He is also required to serve three years of mandatory supervised release and pay fines of around $1,800.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].
