(Stillwater, Okla.) — An ex-convict from Perkins — on 14 years’ probation for robbing three Stillwater businesses at knifepoint in 2012 — pleaded guilty Friday to robbing a clerk at Signature Loans in Cushing on March 25 at knifepoint.
Carmen Eldonna Richardson, 42, does not have an agreement with the prosecutor regarding her sentence, which Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler warned her in court Friday could be from 10 years to life in prison.
Prosecutor Debra Vincent told the judge that at Richardson’s sentencing on Aug. 15, “the state intends to recommend 25 years in prison,” an offer which the defendant had not accepted.
The judge warned Richardson that he could sentence her to more or less than the prosecutor recommended, but that the crime carried a minimum of 10 years “day for day” in prison with no credits.
The judge ordered a pre-sentencing investigation of Richardson, who has been jailed on $300,000 bail since her arrest three months ago.
Less than two hours after the Cushing hold-up, Richardson was arrested in Yale by Cushing Police Sgt. Adam Harp, according to an affidavit by Cushing Police Officer Rachel Hentges.
At the Cushing City Jail, while the female officer was searching Richardson’s black capri pants, Richardson said, “I can’t believe I dropped my card,” the affidavit said.
“I asked Richardson what she was talking about. She said, ‘I dropped my debit card at the place I robbed,"” the affidavit said.
“During book-in, Richardson asked me if I thought she would get life in prison. She said she had four previous convictions.
“Richardson also remarked that she could not believe she got caught and that she was headed to Mexico,” the Cushing officer wrote in her affidavit.
The officer had been sent to the loan company at 119 N. Cleveland in Cushing at 3:10 p.m. on March 25 regarding a panic alarm, the affidavit said.
“The employees reported Richardson came around the counter and said, ‘This is a robbery,’ with the knife in her hand,” before taking all the cash out of the drawer, the affidavit said.
Richardson left and then came back into the business because she had left her purse, the affidavit said. She then left in a silver newer model Chevrolet extended cab pickup traveling east on Broadway Street in Cushing, the affidavit said.
After seeing the knife, the employees, who said they feared for their safety, ran to the back of the business, the affidavit said. After Richardson left, one of the employees found a debit card lying on the floor — with Richardson’s name on it, the affidavit said.
Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Nack reported that he had been in contact with Richardson about two hours earlier in Stillwater in the same pickup and provided the license plate number — which the Cushing officer then transmitted to area agencies, the affidavit said.
About an hour after the Cushing robbery, the Cushing officer contacted Richardson’s father in an attempt to locate her — but he said she had taken his pickup at 11 a.m. the previous day and he had not seen or heard from her since then, the affidavit said.
Five minutes later, the Yale Police Department advised they had Richardson and the vehicle at a gas station in Yale, the affidavit said. Richardson’s father gave the Cushing officer permission to search his vehicle, the affidavit said.
Yale Police Officer Stephen Lombard “reported Richardson said her parents loaned her their vehicle for drug court and she needed money and robbed a woman and that the woman jumped,” the affidavit said.
Richardson told Yale police she had a cocaine addiction, the affidavit said.
“Richardson admitted to Sgt. Harp she needed money, so she pulled out a knife and got money from an employee,” at the Cushing loan company, the affidvit said.
“According to Sgt. Harp, Richardson said she did not attack the employee, but the employee jumped back and ran away and she took the money and left,” the affidavit said.
“Officer Lombard provided Sgt. Harp the Kobalt utility-type knife Richardson said she used during the robbery. The knife was taken from the truck and later processed into evidence.
“Richardson had $350 cash in her wallet,” which was seized and processed into evidence, the affidavit said.
Sixteen months ago, Richardson was given a one-year jail term followed by 14 years of probation for three Stillwater knifepoint robberies in 2012 — conditioned on her enrolling in and successfully completing the Payne County Drug Court program.
Since she was given credit for the time she had already served following her arrest for those Stillwater robberies, Richardson was released five months before the Cushing robbery, court records show.
Before committing the three Stillwater robberies in 2012, Richardson had been released from prison 14 months earlier — after serving less than half of a five-year sentence for uttering a forged instrument in Payne County on which she was sentenced in 2009, state Department of Corrections records show.
In her written guilty plea filed Friday in the Cushing armed robbery, Richardson said that she has a ninth grade education, court records show.
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