BEAUMONT, Texas — A man was sentenced to nine in years in prison after pleading guilty to the 2020 robbery of an elderly man.
Garrett Piazza will receive credit for the 500 days he spent in jail while awaiting trial. He appeared before Judge John Stevens via zoom on Monday.
Piazza was indicted for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, in 2020 for his part in an armed robbery of an 83-year-old man.
At the time of the indictment, Piazza had two prior convictions in burglary cases. If he had gone to trial and was convicted, Piazza would have faced five to 99 years or life in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Piazza pleaded guilty to robbery, a second-degree felony. The punishment for that charge ranges from two to 20 years in prison, a $10,000 fine or probation.
When the prosecutor asked Piazza about the man he robbed, Piazza said in part that was, "very remorseful for what happened. I hate the day it happened.”
Related: Burglary suspect steals truck at gunpoint after stalling stolen tractor on Jefferson County bridge
It happened in mid September of 2020. Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputies responded to FM 365 at the Hillebrandt bridge in reference to an aggravated robbery.
An initial investigation suggested that a male suspect had stolen a John Deere tractor and two handguns from a ranch in the area. Witnesses said the suspect was unable to drive the stolen tractor up the bridge causing a traffic backup.
Once the tractor stalled, the suspect got out of the tractor, ran up to an 83-year-old man and stole his truck at gunpoint. The victim was not injured and the truck was later found in Port Arthur.
Piazza was arrested the next day in Beaumont.
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