Jeremy Simon Garcia, 21, of Austin was sentenced to 129 months in the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud for felony first-degree aggravated robbery – dangerous weapon – on Friday in Mower County District Court. He received credit for 328 days served.

He received a concurrent sentence of 26 months in prison for felony escape from custody. He received credit for 149 days served.

Judge Kevin Siefken issued the sentence.

Garcia was arrested on Nov. 24, 2018, as a suspect in an armed robbery that occurred on Nov. 11, 2018, at Ankeny’s Mini Mart No. 1 at 1205 Oakland Place SE. Court documents state that clerks told police that two masked suspects entered the store and demanded money. One of the suspects brandished a small pistol, which one of the clerks though might have been a BB gun. She handed him the money and the other suspect asked for a pack of Newport 100 cigarettes.

The store’s owner said $2,305.63 in cash was taken.

Surveillance video showed the first suspect, later identified as a 16-year-old juvenile male, enter the store first, followed by Garcia, who was carrying a gun. The video showed the clerk giving the suspects money from the cash register and two bank bags from behind the counter.

The juvenile suspect was arrested on Nov. 13, 2018, and told police he did not want to talk about the robbery until he knew what kind of “deal” he would get from the prosecutor. He indicated he would identify the second suspect if the deal was “good enough.”  While he agreed the video of the robbery showed that he was not the suspect with the gun, the juvenile was found to be in possession of a pack of Newport 100 cigarettes.

Garcia told police the juvenile suspect robbed the store and that he knew who was with the juvenile.

Garcia initially denied being involved, then admitted to being with the juvenile suspect, saying the juvenile planned the robbery because he wanted to “get out of town” and the pistol used was a BB gun. Police executed a search warrant on Garcia’s residence and found a black BB gun in his bedroom.

An officer was dispatched on May 29 to a residence in the 2100 block of Fifth Avenue Northeast on a report of found property after a woman located a GPS monitor in front of her residence. The officer was advised the monitor was supposed to be worn by Garcia.

An agent with Mower County Correctional Services was informed by Midwest Monitoring and Surveillance that Garcia had likely cut off his GPS monitor the previous night.

The device’s serial number matched that of the monitor Garcia had been wearing.

A review of Garcia’s criminal history shows prior convictions for theft and failure to appear on felony charges in Minnesota as well as a conviction for “bail jumping” in Texas. He is currently serving a 108-month prison sentence for a felony first-degree aggravated robbery conviction out of Olmsted County.

In addition to prison, Garcia must pay $2,570 in fees and restitution.