A second defendant has taken a plea deal in the armed robbery on Enid Drive last January.
Four teenage-aged boys and one adult were charged with a slew of crimes that ended in South Dade and included an armed robbery one early January morning on East Enid Drive. The group jumped out of stolen vehicles and robbed two boys at gunpoint.
A license plate reader at the village entrance and video provided to police by village residents were key evidence to the arrests. The incident unnerved residents who demanded better lighting and video surveillance in the village.
On Friday, the teen pleaded guilty to armed robbery with a weapon on Enid Drive and the State Attorney’s Office dropped a grand theft charge. In the related cases, he pleaded guilty to grand theft auto and carrying a concealed weapon. Two counts of grand theft of a firearm, one count of carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest without violence in these related cases were also dropped as part of the deal.
The teen was sentenced to a high-risk residential program under the care of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. An evaluation by department staff will determine which lockdown facility he will be sent to and his commitment plan.
He was the second teen to take a plea deal in the case, and receive a similar plea deal. The Key Biscayne Independent is not naming the teens, although it is a matter of public record, because they have not been charged as adults. The State Attorney’s Office makes the decision on whether to charge juvenile defendants as adults, but typically only does so in extreme cases and only after an internal review process.
“This is your last opportunity,” Circuit Judge Dawn Denaro told the boy. “It’s time to turn your life around.”
The teen has been in custody at the Miami Dade Regional Juvenile Detention Center since his January arrest, a point the teen had his lawyer raise before the hearing ended.
Seven months may seem like a long time, Denaro cautioned the teen, but if he were adjudicated as an adult he would be facing years in prison.
“It’s your last opportunity,” she added. “I wish you luck.”
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Jessica De Leon is a general assignment reporter at the Key Biscayne Independent.
