AUGUSTA — A city man pleaded guilty Tuesday to robbing the Augusta Quick Mart — where the clerk refused to give him any money — and was sentenced to serve an initial 30 months in prison, with an additional 42 months suspended.
Corey Ross Swift, 26, also will spend three years on probation.
He previously had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for felony murder when a robbery he participated in resulted in the April 24, 2007, shooting death of Franco-American singer Jean-Paul Poulain in Augusta. Swift was 18 at that time.
Swift pleaded guilty to the most recent indictment Tuesday at the Capital Judicial Center.
The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Tyler LeClair, described the offense for the judge, saying that Swift went into the store wearing a dark sweatshirt. He demanded money from the clerk, telling her he had a gun. Police said he never displayed a firearm. The clerk refused to give him money, apparently telling him she “was not dealing with this,” and Swift fled without getting any money.
He was described by the clerk and seen by a witness who was entering the store as Swift left.
Later, LeClair said, police found the discarded sweatshirt in a nearby dumpster.
Someone tipped off police that the suspect was Swift after hearing one of his relatives say it was Swift.
When police arrested him, LeClair said, Swift told them “he had committed the robbery because he was dope-sick and addicted to heroin.” Swift also said he had discarded the sweatshirt after the robbery.
Conditions of probation prohibit Swift from using alcohol and illegal drugs.
Swift’s attorney, William Baghdoyan, told Judge Thomas Nale Sr. that Swift could well need in-patient drug treatment.
Swift, whose right arm is almost completely covered in tattoos, said little in court except to plead guilty and respond to the judge’s questions.
Nale told him that Baghdoyan “had argued to get you the help you need while you’re put away so you can be productive when you get out.”
Swift had been released from prison on Aug. 31, 2015, after serving time for the felony murder conviction, according to state Department of Corrections records.
Swift had spent time in jail after his arrest on that charge and before he was sentenced, and he earned “meritorious good time” in prison under the state’s 2004 code.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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