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Safeway robber nets 11 years Judge unmoved by Stover's claim to be nonviolent By CHRIS BRISTOL A two-time loser with reputed ties to the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang was sent to prison for more than 11 years Friday for robbing a grocery store in west Medford. Shawn Wayne Stover, 29, must serve the entire sentence and won't be eligible for parole until 2010. After a six-day trial in March, a Jackson County jury convicted Stover of two counts of first-degree robbery for the Sept. 28 holdup of the West Main Safeway store. The jury also convicted Stover of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The trial was a bit of a whodunit, with Stover arguing the state's case was entirely circumstantial and that a different suspect pulled the job. The jury deliberated for 10 hours before returning a verdict at 1:15 a.m. Stover has a long rap sheet, including convictions for second-degree robbery, first-degree theft and car theft. Authorities say he has ties to the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist prison gang. At his sentencing Friday, the Prospect man disputed findings in a pre-sentence report that concluded he was violent and suffers from an antisocial personality disorder. "I'm a passive person, not aggressive," he said, adding that his reputation for fighting in jail is simply reflective of the environment. But trial judge Ray White was not moved. Two different Safeway employees had been forced at gunpoint to fork over cash, leading White to add 45 months to Stover's base sentence under Measure 11 of 90 months. The judge said he was somewhat puzzled about Stover's life of crime. Most offenders come from dysfunctional families or have drug or alcohol problems, he said. "With you it's not that way," he said, looking at Stover. "You just do what you want to when you want to." After the proceeding, prosecutor Debbie Minder acknowledged the case against Stover was largely circumstantial. Key testimony came from a prosecution witness who saw the masked robber and his getaway car, she said. The witness, a recovering drug addict, was acquainted with Stover from Medford's seamy spun-on-methamphetamine subculture. Minder said Stover is a threat to retaliate, even from prison. "He was very integral to this case," she said of the witness. "He probably risked his life to testify." Medford police also recovered $2,100 in small, bundled bills from a bag under the back seat of Stover's car. Police never collared the robber's accomplice in the getaway car. In a related development earlier this week, Stover's girlfriend pleaded guilty to charges that she tried to smuggle cigarettes into Stover's cell at the Jackson County Jail. Minder said Mistelle Alsup-Armstrong, 24, was caught red-handed outside Stover's cell when a deputy happened by as she tried to string up a bag containing smokes and rolling papers. She awaits sentencing. Apparently Stover simply kicked out his cell window. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA