News
Fourth Man Convicted, Sentenced In Connection With West Side Shooting
By: Susan Tebben
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ATHENS (WOUB)– A Glouster man was convicted in connection with the shooting of an Athens man, along with three other cases.
Robert A. Martin, 27, appeared in Athens County Common Pleas Court on Friday, where Judge George McCarthy convicted him and sentenced him to 10 years in prison, along with five years of post-release control, according to the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office.
Martin was convicted of felony charges including complicity to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Charles Duncan Sr., robbery, three counts of receiving stolen property, aggravated trafficking in drugs, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, having weapons while under disability, grand theft of a motor vehicle and two counts of trespass in a habitation.
The charges connected to Duncan’s death included drug trafficking, corrupt activity, robbery and two of the stolen property charges, along with the complicity to involuntary manslaughter charge. County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn said Martin accepted stolen property as payment for drugs, and broke into homes with others involved in the case to steal items.
The case also involved trafficking in methamphetamine, according to Blackburn. Law enforcement said Duncan was killed in the process of collecting a drug debt from him.
Three other men were sentenced in connection with Duncan’s death: Jonathan Champe McLaughlin, Bernard C. Mitchell and Michael Allen Russell. A fourth man allegedly involved, Troy Vermillion, II, is still awaiting a jury trial, currently set for October.
In the other cases, Martin was convicted of staying in an empty rental property on Richland Avenue without permission and with stolen property, entering a residence on Maple Street in Glouster without permission and stealing a motorcycle from the Athens city parking garage.