Advertisement. Advertise with us

Gas station robbers sentenced to jail

By Greg Klein • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

Bryan Ruple, right, is sentenced Monday, May 10, in Otsego County Court, for assault and robbery in connection with a series of stick ups in and around Oneonta on April 24, 2020. (Greg Klein/AllOtsego.com).

COOPERSTOWN – A pair of Otsego County men were sentenced Monday, May 10, for their roles in a series of robberies, attempted robberies and an assault that took place during a one-day crime spree April 24, 2020, in and around the city and town of Oneonta.

Brian Ruple, 42, of Otego, received a sentence of seven years in state prison for a second degree assault with a knife that he committed during one of the robberies, at the Kwik-Fill Convenience Store at 65 Chestnut St. in Oneonta, where he stabbed a clerk in the hand. Ruple will serve between two and a half to five years for robbery in the third degree. The assault is a class B felony and the robbery is a class D felony. Ruple will also be subject to five years of post-release supervision.

Otsego County Judge John Lambert said he was sentencing Ruple as a second-time felony offender because Ruple was convicted in Oneida County in 2013 of a class D felony of possession of a dangerous controlled substance.

Ruple’s accomplice, driver Derrick Gray, 42, of Laurens, received a sentence of between two-and-a-half to five years for robbery in the third degree.

Both men had previously agreed to the terms of their plea bargains, but Gray – representing himself – made a series of objections Monday, saying he did not think he was fairly treated and did not think he should get the same sentence for robbery as Ruple.

Lambert told Gray that he was a repeat offender and he got a much better deal than he might have ended up with had he gone to trial, with the longest possible sentence being “life in prison.”

Gray said he “did not have the same intent” as Ruple, and called the sentence a “miscarriage of justice.”

“You can’t keep diminishing the role you played,” Lambert said. “You’re having buyer’s remorse or something, but you got a good sentence, given your criminal history.”

Although both men waived their rights to appeal most aspects of the case as part of the pleas, Lambert said some of Gray’s appeals will survive and can be looked at again by the Appellate Court.

Ruple was charged with second-degree assault and two counts each of third-degree robbery and third-degree attempted robbery for his alleged role in the robbery of four gas stations and burglaries at Losie’s Gun Shop in the town of Davenport and the Dollar Tree in the town of Oneonta.

Gray had been charged with third-degree robbery and third-degree attempted robbery in connection with the four gas station incidents. Gray was apparently not involved in the two break-ins.

However, Gray did admit in March in court that he drove Ruple to the gas stations and did enter at least one of them, a Mirabito store in the town of Oneonta, in an attempt to create a diversion. Gray was paying for an iced tea when Ruple came up to the cash register and demanded money. Gray said Ruple was carrying a knife during the robberies.

Derrick Gray, right, is sentenced Monday, May 10, in Otsego County Court, for a series of stick ups in and around Oneonta on April 24, 2020. (Greg Klein/AllOtsego.com).

Posted

Tags

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Related Articles

Putting the Community Back Into the Newspaper

Now through March 30, new annual subscribers to “The Freeman’s Journal” and AllOtsego.com (or subscribers who have lapsed for two or more years) have an opportunity to help their choice of one of four Otsego County charitable organizations.

$5.00 of your subscription will be donated to the nonprofit of your choice:

Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, Cooperstown Food Pantry, Greater Oneonta Historical Society or Super Heroes Humane Society.