URBANA — A teen who admitted he helped rob a younger teen of a backpack and cellphone has been sentenced to prison.
Leon Dantzler, 18, who listed an address in the 2300 block of Rainbow View Drive, Urbana, pleaded guilty to robbery Wednesday before Judge Tom Difanis and was sentenced to six years in prison with a recommendation that he serve it in the Department of Corrections' boot camp program.
Dantzler admitted he was one of four young men who robbed a 14-year-old on Dec. 26 in the 200 block of East Park Street in Champaign.
The victim met another of the defendants on an MTD bus that day and that other person told him he could sell the youngster's cellphone for him. Instead, the group of four took the teen to Park Street, produced knives and robbed him of his phone and backpack.
In return for Dantzler's plea, a more serious charge of armed robbery was dismissed, his probation in a prior burglary case was unsuccessfully terminated, and an unrelated theft case was dismissed.