man convicted of armed robbery in fayette county

This afternoon, a Fayette County jury convicted Joseph Huggins, a 22 year old man from Charleston, GA of Armed Robbery and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime. The Honorable Scott Ballard sentenced the defendant to 15 years on the Armed Robbery and 5 years on the Firearm charge for a total of 20 years to serve in prison. Assistant District Attorney Monique Harris tried the case for the State.
 
On May 28, 2021 officers with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in Tyrone, GA and made contact with the victim of the armed robbery. The victim is a truck driver and was driving a truck with furniture from Arizona to a family’s new residence in Tyrone. He needed additional help to unload the trailer, so the dispatch company sent two additional people, one of them being the defendant. The defendant and his co-defendant were hired from Craig’s List to help with the job. The defendants asked the victim to go with them to procure additional equipment for the job. While in the car, the defendants pointed 2 guns at the victim and took everything he had on him, including: money, identification, a phone, credit cards, and his Bluetooth earbuds. They then kicked the victim out of the car, leaving him on the side of the road. The victim walked two miles back to the original address in Tyrone, and the police were called.
 
The Sheriff’s Office’s investigation identified Defendant Huggins and his co-defendant as the perpetrators of the crime. They were arrested and brought to trial. Defendant Huggins was convicted after three days of trial. The co-defendant will be tried later.
 
“I am so proud of ADA Harris and the Sheriff’s Office detective for their hard work this week.” District Attorney Broder said of the trial. “In her closing, ADA Harris told the jury that ‘the United States of America is the land of opportunity, and the victim in the case today was taking advantage of the opportunities by working hard and providing for his family. On May 28th, the defendant took advantage of him.’ I echo her sentiments. Fayette County citizens sent the message today that they will not tolerate violent crime happening here. Thank you to the jurors for that message. We will continue to aggressively pursue those who seek to destroy our peace here.”