A Newton man has a felony conviction for an armed robbery. Jasper County Attorney Scott Nicholson says Anthony Jamal Gould was 17 when he and three other masked juveniles with handguns entered a home in southeast Newton. They stole a safe containing $6,000 while pointing their guns at a person in the South 3rd Avenue East house. According to  Nicholson, the robbery occurred between 8:30 and 9 a.m. on September 22nd of last year, He says Gould was arrested a month and a half later, when one of the other juveniles provided the names of all those involved. Gould pleaded guilty to Third Degree Burglary, a Class D Felony His sentence this week from Jasper County District Court Judge Terry Rickers includes a five year suspended prison term, three-years probation, a $1,025 suspended fine, and he must undergo a mental health evaluation and recommended treatment. Assistant County Attorney Nicholas Pietrack prosecuted the case and kept it in adult court.

“When a juvenile is charged with certain levels of crimes in Iowa, if they are 16 or older,  they are “Direct Filed” into District Court. The juvenile can ask the court to waive jurisdiction back to Juvenile Court, which happened in this case. But the court denied that after a hearing, so the case stayed in Adult Court. Three others involved were all in Juvenile Court because of their age.”

Pietrack says the three other juveniles involved all received similar sentences to Gould in Juvenile Court..