One of three marijuana robbers to serve 5 years

BANGOR – One of three men involved in the armed robbery of a LaGrange marijuana dealer was sentenced Thursday in Penobscot County Superior Court.

Roderick Cole, 23, was sentenced to 16 years in prison with all but five months suspended and six years of probation for robbery, five years for burglary, one year for burglary to a motor vehicle and one year for possession of a firearm by a felon. The sentences are to run consecutively. He also was ordered to share the $1,000 restitution payment to the victims with his co-defendants.

Cole pleaded guilty to the charges and was the first to confess to his involvement in the incident, according to Greg Campbell, assistant district attorney for Penobscot County. He also took responsibility for his actions and testified against Walter Cobb, 32, at his jury trial last month.

A jury of seven men and five women deliberated for 90 minutes last month before finding Cobb guilty of armed robbery, armed burglary, reckless conduct, criminal threatening, burglary of a motor vehicle, unauthorized use of property and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Albert Severance, 24, the third man who admitted to taking part in the robbery, was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday. His sentencing was continued due to the recent birth of his child.

The trio entered the LaGrange home of Jeremy and Kristen Hart about 8:45 a.m. Sunday, March 9, 2003, according to testimony at Cobb’s trial. All three wore ski masks over their heads.

They left with about $1,000 in cash, two 1-gallon bags filled with marijuana and the family’s SUV.

The plot to rob the Harts was hatched in February 2003 at the Iron Horsemen Motorcycle Clubhouse, according to testimony. Cobb and Severance, who lived downstairs from him in a Sangerville apartment building, recruited Cole, Severance’s roommate, and Cole’s live-in girlfriend, Kathryn “Katie” McCloud. She drove the three to and from the Harts’ home in her father’s pickup truck the day of the robbery.

McCloud, who recently married Severance and gave birth to their first child earlier this month, was not charged for her role in the robbery. All three identified Cobb as the third man who helped execute the scheme that they expected to net nearly $50,000 in cash.

Sentencing dates for Severance and Cobb have not been set.