SPRINGDALE (KFSM) – A Springdale man was sentenced Thursday to 30 years behind bars after being convicted in the 2013 beating and robbery of a man at Brookhaven Apartments.
J’Donta Britt, 20, was convicted Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court of aggravated robbery. The jury suggested a 30-year prison sentence, and the judge upheld the suggestion, according to the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office.
Britt could have been sentenced to 10 to 40 years in prison or life behind bars, said Brian Lamb, the prosecutor in the case. Britt must serve at least 21 years of the sentence before he will be eligible for parole, Lamb said.
The defendant was also found guilty of misdemeanor fleeing and sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine, Lamb said.
Britt was one of three suspects in June 2013 arrested in connection with an assault on a Hispanic man. Eyewitnesses told police one of the suspects hit 34-year-old Jose Jesus Alvarez-Meja before the other two suspects joined the fight, jumping up and down on the victim who had fallen down.
Alvarez-Meja was taken to Northwest Medical Center in Springdale in serious condition and later taken by medical helicopter to a Springfield, Mo., hospital.
Police found Alvarez-Meja’s bloody backpack inside the Chevrolet Impala that the suspects allegedly used as a getaway car. One of the suspects also had the victim’s wallet, according to a police report. Investigators do not believe the suspects knew Alvarez-Meja. He had just arrived home when the suspects beat and robbed him, police said.
Timmie Robinson, 18, was also one of the three suspects arrested in the case. He pleaded guilty in April to aggravated robbery, first-degree battery, engaging in violent group activity and fleeing. He received a sentence of 20 years in prison, with 20 years suspended, court records show.
The third suspect, a 16-year-old boy, was never identified to the public by authorities.