A Missouri man accused of robbing one store in Arkansas and attempting to rob another pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to one count each of robbery and brandishing a firearm, and faces up to life in prison upon sentencing.
Kenneth Wendell Carter, 39, of St. Louis was arrested Oct. 24, 2019, in the incidents, which occurred on Oct. 13 and 14 that year in Forrest City and Pocahontas. According to a criminal complaint filed Nov. 11, 2019, three people robbed the Westside Market in Forrest City of $1,000 on Oct. 13, 2019.
After the clerk opened the cash register, one of the suspects, later identified as Carter, pulled a pistol and demanded the money, after which all three suspects left the store.
About 3:30 a.m. the next day, three men entered the T-Ricks gas station and convenience store in Pocahontas, and one of the men, later identified as Carter, pulled a pistol and demanded money, a complaint said. While one man stood next to Carter, the third man walked behind the counter and tried unsuccessfully to open the register. The three men then ran from the store, the complaint said.
According to the complaint, police in Pocahontas reviewed video surveillance footage from another business taken about one hour before the robbery at T-Ricks that showed Carter getting out of a SUV in which the license plate was visible. A plate check showed the vehicle was registered to Carter.
When police located the SUV, the complaint said, they found a loaded pistol, which Carter said belonged to him and said it was the pistol used in both incidents.
Carter appeared before U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker via video link from the Greene County jail. In exchange for his guilty pleas to interference with commerce by robbery and using, carrying and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Siobhan O'Leary moved to dismiss one count of interference with commerce by attempted robbery and a second count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Baker told Carter that his guilty plea to the robbery count would expose him to a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine, and his guilty plea to the weapons count would expose him to a sentence range between seven years and life in prison to be served consecutively to any other sentence he may receive.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Carter must forfeit the pistol and pay restitution of $1,000 to the Westside Market in Forrest City.
Baker said she would set a date for sentencing after the office of probation and pretrial services completes a presentencing report, which she said takes about 90 days.
After the hearing, Carter, still on video link, could be heard asking his attorney, Jordan Brown Tinsley of Little Rock, if it would be possible to hold his sentencing hearing before 90 days.
"There's a chance, but I wouldn't hold my breath," Tinsley said.