One of the five suspects charged in a failed heist of marijuana in Moorhead last November pleaded guilty on Monday in Clay County District Court.
Jason Christopher Pendleton, 23, of Lincoln, N.D., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery in exchange for prosecutors dropping five other charges against him.
He's expected to face two years in prison when sentenced on Oct. 4, which his attorney, Brian Toay, said was the recommendation under state guidelines.
Pendleton admitted he helped plan an armed robbery at 908 8th St. S. on Nov. 8 meant to target a suspected dealer of marijuana. Instead of hitting a drug dealer, three men - two of them carrying guns - robbed a pair of Concordia College students in a different unit in the apartment complex.
The robbers staged a fake pizza delivery to get the residents to open the door, borrowing a pizza warmer and a uniform from a real pizza man Pendleton knew.
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In testimony to support his guilty plea, Pendleton admitted he planned to sell the marijuana if the robbery had gone as planned.
Two defendants have already been found guilty in trials, and two remaining defendants - the fake pizza guy and the getaway driver - testified in the trials and are expected to plead guilty at a later date in a deal for lighter sentences.
Noah James Anderson, the only defendant who has already been sentenced, received a four-year prison term in a crime Judge Galen Vaa called a "minor act of war on society."
John Jose Kukert Jr., convicted in a July trial of charges linked to the robbery, is set for sentencing next Monday and could face six years in prison, according to Clay County Attorney Brian Melton.
