Final Defendant Sentenced In Roller Rink Shooting
PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - The final defendant charged with firing on a group of about 300 people at a 2011 pre-Christmas roller-skating party has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Twenty-year-old Robert Lee German was sentenced Wednesday in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac after pleading no contest to charges including conspiracy to commit murder and assault with intent to murder.
German was captured in August after being found hiding under a bed in his mother's Pontiac home. His lawyer says German has taken responsibility for his actions.
Two others charged in the shooting, 18-year-old Cheyenne Ingram and 21-year-old Tre-Andis Jamison, earlier were convicted and sentenced to 21 to 70 years in prison.
The charges stem from a Dec. 23 shooting at the Rolladium roller rink, located on Highland Rd. near Pontiac Lake Rd. in Waterford Township, about 25 miles northwest of Detroit.
The private holiday party billed as an 18 and up "Roll Up" was coming to a close around 1:45 a.m. when the three men entered the building and fired handguns from the snack bar area out onto the skating floor area. Nearly 300 people were inside the rink. In all, six people were shot -- all of whom recovered.
Investigators say the shooting stemmed from two rival gangs out of Pontiac, one known as the "Goon Squad," and the other as "1st Enfantry." One of the victims shot was an intended target and rival to the shooters, and was previously shot by rivals in a similar incident at a nightclub in Pontiac back in December 2010.
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