MACON, Ga. — A regular customer at a Macon smoke shop is headed to prison after he robbed it at gunpoint last year.
According to a news release from the district attorney’s office, 35-year-old Benjamin Statham Jr. opted for a jury trial and was found guilty of armed robbery Thursday after an hour and a half of deliberations.
Following his conviction, Statham was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving at least 30 years.
CASE HISTORY
During the trial, a store employee testified that a masked man wearing dark clothes and gloves came into the store around 3 a.m. on July 7, 2018. The man pointed a gun at her and demanded money from the register.
The employee gave the robber the money and he ran away.
The employee told jurors that she recognized the robber’s voice because he was a customer who visited the store for at least an hour every week.
Another witness told a similar story to jurors, and surveillance footage supported both accounts.
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