Terence James Sentenced For Role In Fairfield Inn Robbery

A Cheyenne man was sentenced today in Albany County District Court for his part in an armed robbery at the Fairfield Inn in Laramie on New Year’s Day 2013.

Terence James was sentenced to five to ten years of incarceration with credit for his time already served for Accessory Before the Fact. James was found guilty of the crime by a jury last June.

According to a court affidavit, James entered the hotel with Kevin Lewis shortly after midnight on January 1, 2013. Lewis presented a gun and the men left with $245 in cash. Both men covered their faces during the robbery.

The men were apprehended by Cheyenne Police shortly after another robbery less than two weeks after the Laramie incident. James told officers that he was not there during the robbery of a cash advance center in Cheyenne, but he admitted to being present during the Laramie and other robberies within a two week period. James told police he received $130 for the robbery in Laramie, but that he had not spent any of the cash.

Lewis and his attorney asked the court for a probation sentence or the requirement of going to boot camp. They argued that those punishments would be appropriate for the crime and would help get James on the right path.

The state asked for James to be incarcerated for the crime because it was a violent crime that was part of crime spree that involved three other armed robberies.

Judge Jeffrey Donnell sentenced James to five to ten years, saying that the crime endangered lives. He said that it was hard to ignore that this was the second of four armed robberies in which James participated and that James had even received money for his part in the crime.

James still faces charges in York, Neb., Loveland, Colo., and Casper, Wyo. for his role in other armed robberies.