FARGO - The first suspect to stand trial for an armed robbery in a Moorhead apartment is guilty of conspiring to pull the botched drug heist.
A Clay County jury found Noah Anderson guilty of conspiring to commit aggravated robbery, as well as two other felony counts.
The jury delivered three guilty verdicts Monday at about 8:45 p.m. after deliberating for four hours to cap off the five-day trial.
Anderson is one of five men accused in connection with a Nov. 8 robbery at a Moorhead apartment at 908 8th St. S. that police think was a failed attempt to steal marijuana and cash.
Suspects have told police they staged a fake pizza delivery to open the door so three men could charge inside - one with a shotgun, one with a handgun and a third with a knife. The robbery was misdirected, aimed at the wrong apartment unit, police say.
ADVERTISEMENT
Clay County Attorney Brian Melton argued in his closing argument Monday that three men saying Anderson was involved in the bungled dealer robbery, with evidence plus victim and witness accounts backing up their stories, makes his role in the plot clear.
Anderson had claimed he was playing video games at a friend's place at the time of the home invasion that prompted security alerts at both nearby colleges.
Defense attorney Jon Erickson said the charges relied too much on the word of accomplices, which by state law requires some corroborative evidence.
"That's the state's case, those three guys," Erickson said.
In addition to a hood and a pair of gloves belonging to Anderson found near the scene, Melton pointed to records showing Anderson made numerous calls to the other suspects before and after the robbery as corroborating evidence.
Anderson said on Monday he didn't know how the gloves and hood got there.
Two of the witnesses who implicated Anderson are co-defendants who struck deals for their cooperation: Joshua Lowe, who told police he helped hatch the plan, and the alleged pizza guy, Jean Roubideaux. Two other defendants are set for trials, one to start today and another in July.
The jury found Anderson not guilty on the charge of aggravated robbery and guilty on counts of first-degree burglary and second-degree assault.
ADVERTISEMENT
Melton said the guideline sentence - with no criminal history, which he said appeared to be the case for Anderson - would be two years on the conspiracy charge, with a potential for another year if the assault sentence ran concurrent.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
