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Robbery gang charge reduced in deal By Chris Bristol Instead of 90 months in prison, a former Eagle Point woman accused of helping her sister�s gang rob a local bar received a suspended sentence of 90 days. Authorities alleged that Sandra Denise Jones, 39, served as a lookout in the November 1998 robbery of the Lucky Dog Saloon, one of at least five stickups in late 1998 that resulted in stiff prison sentences for her sister and several others. Jones, a former emergency room clerk at Providence Medford Medical Center, pleaded no contest Monday to a charge of third-degree robbery. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed a far more serious charge of first-degree robbery. Deputy District Attorney Holly Smith said she agreed to the deal because it was hard to know for sure the extent of Jones� involvement in the Lucky Dog robbery, which netted just under $4,000. "Half said she knew what was going on," Smith said, referring to members of the gang, which included Jones� sister, Maria Scribner. "Half said she didn�t." First-degree robbery in Oregon carries a Measure 11 mandatory prison sentence of 7� years in prison (or 90 months). Third-degree robbery is punishable by no more than a year in jail, usually far less. Under the plea agreement, both sides were free to argue the sentence. Smith urged the court to send Jones to jail for three months, alleging that Jones participated in the Lucky Dog holdup by making sure the place was empty of customers moments before the robbery went down. Smith added Jones deserved to go to jail because she was convicted in 1985 of a federal obstruction charge related to a bank robbery committed by her brother. But Jones� defense attorney, Charles Kochlacs, asked the court for a more lenient sentence, arguing that his client�s problems were the result of a bad family environment. Kochlacs disputed his client�s role in the Lucky Dog robbery, noting Jones� claim that she was there that night only because it was where she and her sister�s friends usually hung out. "At the most she was a peripheral player and may have been the proverbial wrong-person-in-the-wrong-place," he told Judge Patricia Crain. In a tearful statement to the court, Jones said she has moved to Alaska to get away from her family. She recently had a baby. "This is about my family," she said. Crain decided to give Jones the benefit of a doubt, suspending a sentence of 90 days in jail. The judge also ordered Jones to perform 200 hours of community service and pay $1,500 in fines and court costs. As a condition, Crain warned Jones that her probation would be revoked for even a single violation � resulting in the automatic reinstatement of the full 90-day sentence. Authorities described Scribner�s boyfriend, Ed Brissette, as the ringleader of a loose-knit gang that held up several businesses in November and December of 1998, including banks in Medford and Gold Hill. Scribner and Brissette were prosecuted in federal court, where they received sentences of close to nine years in prison. Three other members of the group received sentences ranging from more than 10 years to 18 months. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA