A former Chicago man signed a plea deal last week admitting he stole Newport cigarettes and lottery tickets with a co-defendant from a Hobart Speedway.
Marlon Triplett, 34, pleaded guilty April 22 to robbery, a Level 5 felony. He faces up to six years in prison. His sentencing is set for May 31.
Court records show his current address is listed at the Shawnee Correctional Center in Vienna, Illinois.
Police were called at 2:20 a.m. Jan. 13, 2022 to a Speedway, 3200 E. Lincoln Highway, where a witness said two men with masks ordered the employee to lie on the ground.
They took more than $2,000 in lottery tickets and more than $2,000 in Newport cigarettes, charges state.
Police later learned a man in a distinctive blue Nike puffy coat with one orange sleeve tried to cash in stolen lottery tickets at 8:15 a.m. Jan. 13 at Walmart, 1100 5th Ave., in Hammond.
The charging affidavit stated the stickup was one of a string of suspected gas station robberies in Indiana and Illinois — including Palos Heights, Illinois, Hickory Hills, Ill., Highland Park, Ill. Gary, Crown Point and Demotte — from December 2021 to January 2022 with co-defendant Sedgwick Reavers, 32.
Reavers is imprisoned at the Menard Correctional Center in Illinois until January 2027, court records show.
Deputy Prosecutor Keith Anderson is assigned. Defense lawyer Kirk Marrie is representing Triplett.