(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Perkins woman was given a 25-year prison term Friday for robbing a Cushing business at knifepoint — while she was on probation for robbing three Stillwater businesses at knifepoint.
Before being sentenced by Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler as part of a plea bargain with the prosecution, Carmen Eldonna Richardson, 42, said, “I apologize to my family. I should have never done it.”
Less than two hours after the Cushing hold-up at Signature Loans on March 25, 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 feared for their safety, ran to the back of the business, the affidavit said. After Richardson left, an employee found a debit card on the floor — with Richardson’s name on it, the affidavit said.
Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Nack had been in contact with Richardson about two hours earlier in Stillwater in the same vehicle and provided the license plate number — which the Cushing officer then sent to area agencies, the affidavit said.
Five minutes later, the Yale Police Department reported 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.
Eighteen 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.
Before committing the Stillwater robberies, 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 a pre-sentencing report for the judge filed in court records last week, Richardson said, “When I did my (Cushing) robbery and was so high, I wasn’t thinking in the right sense. All I wanted to do at the time was get high. So I needed money to continue my high.
“And I’m very sorry for what I did. I would take it back. I went into the loan place with thoughts of getting money. I got the money.
“I left my purse in there and had to go back to get it. I dropped my pay pal card. And I stopped at a gas station in Yale. And got arrested there. And taken to Cushing Jail until I was brought back to Payne County Jail. I’m needing help with my addiction.”
Richardson’s adoptive mother told the official compiling the pre-sentencing report, “She uses people, and everything is fine as long as it’s her way.
“She had every chance from the judge, Drug Court, people she robbed, after getting out of jail.”
Her adoptive mother added, “I have tried my best to help Carmen. She has stole, lied and I am not going to try anymore. I am getting rid of her belongings here. No matter what she has tried, she just keeps going back to the same way of life.”
Richardson had worked as a cook at various restaurants in Perkins, Stillwater, Cushing and Sand Springs, the report said. Her last employer in Stillwater said “she was terminated due to theft of money from the store,” the report said.
Richardson told the official preparing the pre-sentencing report, “she has used alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines 50 or more times in her lifetime.” Richardson claimed she had used cocaine one to 10 times in the last six months, the report said.
Probation and Parole Officer Mike McKiddy, who compiled the report, noted that Richardson appeared to be a threat to the community and recommended that she be incarcerated.
Before sentencing Richardson to the 25-year prison term recommended by prosecutor Debra Vincent for the Cushing armed robbery, the judge emphasized that Richardson would have to serve at least 85 percent of that time before becoming eligible for parole.
The judge also ruled that Richardson had violated her probation and gave her three concurrent 14-year prison terms for her Stillwater armed robberies.***
