The man who robbed the North Main Street Marathon gas station at gunpoint in March of 2022 was sentenced to six years in prison Monday morning in Christian Circuit Court.
A deal was reached last month that had 27-year old Ronald Aldridge pleading guilty to second-degree robbery—amended down from first-degree—and that dismissed a kidnapping charge with a recommended sentence of six years with the Commonwealth neutral on probation.
Judge John Atkins on Monday said he considered rejecting the deal, but decided against it.
He noted that the severity of the crime made Aldridge ineligible for probation.
Judge Atkins sentenced Aldridge to six years in prison, but allowed him to be released on his recognizance until Saturday morning to have time with his children.
Aldridge entered the North Main Street Marathon gas station on the night of March 17, 2022, brandished a handgun and demanded cash from the clerk. After getting the money from the register, he demanded the clerk’s cellphone and left the store.
He then got into the passenger side of a vehicle parked next to a gas pump and demanded that the driver who was behind the wheel drive him away at gunpoint.
Police say the owner of the vehicle barely got onto North Main before a struggle ensued and the driver and the suspect fell out of the passenger side door, with the gun going off during a fight over the weapon. No one was injured.