Holdup nets prison term

URBANA – Judge Heidi Ladd sentenced a Champaign man on Monday to 16 years in prison for the aggravated robbery of a convenience store.

Phillip James, 38, whose last known address was in the 200 block of North Randolph Street, C., had pleaded guilty in September to holding up a clerk at the Circle K, 1501 N. Lincoln Ave., U., at 6:40 a.m. on Feb. 8.

Assistant State's Attorney Sarah Carlson said he asked the woman if there was anything he could buy for 50 cents. When the clerk told him no, he jumped over the counter, struck the woman and ordered her to open her cash register.

James then tied the woman up in a storeroom with some electrical cord. He later told police he had relapsed and used cocaine that weekend for the first time in five years.

James was also arrested for a robbery at the same location two days later, on Feb. 10.

In that incident, a male employee was alone at the store at 2:37 a.m., so he locked the door to use the bathroom. As he left the bathroom, he unlocked the door, and a man, later identified as James, came in after him swinging a knife, Carlson said.

The robber pulled the cash register off the counter and took money. A video system recorded him leaving with cash in one hand and a knife in the other.

Staff writer Mary Schenk contributed to this report.

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