Syracuse, NY - An East Syracuse woman who acted as a lookout during a home-invasion robbery during which the resident was sexually assault avoided a state prison penalty at sentencing today. Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi sentenced Aimee Burton to five years' probation and credit for about seven months of jail time already served for her role in the...
Aimee Burton leaves Onondaga County Court with defense lawyer Stefano Cambareri after being sentenced today to probation for her role as the lookout in violent home-invasion robbery in Minoa.Syracuse, NY - An East Syracuse woman who acted as a lookout during a home-invasion robbery during which the resident was sexually assault avoided a state prison penalty at sentencing today.
Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi sentenced Aimee Burton to five years' probation and credit for about seven months of jail time already served for her role in the July 2009 incident in Minoa.
Burton, 19, of Exeter Street, pleaded guilty in September to a felony count of attempted second-degree burglary in a deal calling for her to be sentenced to no more than 3 1/2 years in state prison.
But the prosecution agreed to the shock probationary sentence today to reward Burton for cooperating with authorities and testifying at the recent trial of the man accused of being the mastermind behind the break-in.
Burton today apologized to the victim and to her own family for her conduct.
Defense lawyer Stefano Cambareri said it was clear Burton only thought she was participating in a burglary when she agreed to wait in the car outside the home while three accomplices entered the residence to steal property.
During the break-in, however, two of the intruders sexually assaulted the resident in front of her 5-year-old daughter.
The three accomplices who carried out the robbery - Jayson M. Kelley, 26; Justin D. White, 25, and Darron Phillips, 25, all of Syracuse - pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to serve 20 years, 22 years and 25 years in state prison.
The alleged mastermind, Anthony Griffin, 31, of East Molloy Road, Mattydale, was convicted last month following trial and is scheduled to be sentenced next week.