Joe Johnson
An Athens man who was accused of kidnapping for stealing a car with an infant inside nine months ago was sentenced to 10 years in prison during a hearing this week in Clarke County Superior Court.
Western Judicial Circuit Judge H. Patrick Haggard on Tuesday sentenced 24-year-old Justin Matthew Robinson in accordance with a plea agreement between Robinson and the District Attorney Office.
As part of the agreement, prosecutors dismissed the kidnapping charge and Robinson pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and theft by taking a motor vehicle, according to the sentencing document.
Robinson’s attorney David Crowe told Classic City News that his client stole the vehicle without realizing an 11-month-old girl was inside.
The incident occurred on Feb. 10, when Robinson was walking past a home on Windy Hill Way and saw a car that was unlocked and running in the driveway, according to Athens-Clarke County police.
Crowe, who called kidnapping “a specific intent crime,” said that after realizing the child was in the car, Robinson parked the vehicle at Home Depot on Epps Bridge Parkway in Oconee County and waited in the parking lot until the car and child were located by police.