BB GUN-WIELDING ROBBER'S 25-YEAR SENTENCE REDUCED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 13, 1993                   TAG: 9302130052
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE                                LENGTH: Short
BB GUN-WIELDING ROBBER'S 25-YEAR SENTENCE REDUCED
A 35-year-old Pulaski man sentenced to 25 years in prison for a holdup at the I-81 Truck Stop in Wythe County last August will have to serve only six months, partly because his weapon turned out to be a BB gun.
Franklin Jason Wallace must also pay back the $700 taken in the robbery, under terms of his sentence. Authorities recovered about $300 when they arrested him.
The bulk of the sentence was suspended because of the BB gun, and because he cooperated with police after his arrest, showed remorse for his crime, and had a previously clean record.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB