Man gets 85 years for robbery and gang activity

A Dalton, Georgia, man has been sentenced to 85 years in prison, with the first 20 to be served without the possibility of parole, for gang crimes.

Alexandro Agapito PerezLucas, 18, was convicted by a Whitfield County jury on July 2 following a three-day trial for armed robbery, false imprisonment, criminal street gang activity and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

According to a news release from Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Bert Poston, the sentence handed down July 23 requires Perez-Lucas to pay $13,383 in restitution to a victim business, La Esquinita.

Evidence in the case was presented from June 30 to July 1 and showed that Perez-Lucas and another individual, Sergio Alberto Perez, robbed the La Esquinita store on Hamilton Street. Each defendant had a handgun during the robbery and held the cashier and other customers at gunpoint.

Two children, ages 8 and 10, were in the store at the time of the robbery.

More than $12,000 was taken from the store. In a photograph taken two hours after the robbery and presented by prosecutors at trial, PerezLucas can be seen with the firearm used during the robbery and a large amount of currency fanned out for display.

Perez-Lucas, who has claimed affiliation with the Sureño street gang since he was 12 years old, was 16 years old at the time of the robbery, the release said.

His attorney, Anna Johnson, argued that his age and family support warranted a more lenient sentence, but Assistant District Attorney Ian Whittle argued that the defendant had previously been prosecuted as a juvenile for gang-related crimes and weapons charges. Whittle further argued that the local gang community was aware of the case and that the court should send a message to gang members that violent gang activity will not be tolerated.

Georgia law provides that anyone older than 13 who is charged with armed robbery with a firearm may be tried as an adult in Superior Court.

Co-defendant Perez pleaded guilty in April and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. A third individual, Luiz Perez-Bautista, also pleaded guilty in April to making false statements to law enforcement in connection with the incident and was sentenced to probation.