Yuma man sentenced to nine years in prison for attempted murder, armed robberies
21-year-old Jacob Allen sentenced to mitigated charges after facing 17 original offenses
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - After being incarcerated for nearly two years, Jacob Alijah Allen will now head to the Arizona Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to numerous attempted murder and armed robbery charges.
The 21-year-old appeared in front of Honorable Judge David Haws on Wednesday morning for sentencing and learned he will spend nine years behind bars after his actions in September 2020 over a two day span.
Allen was originally facing a total of 17 criminal offenses, including six counts of attempted first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of armed robbery, among others.
The charges stemmed from multiple separate incidents on September 22nd and 23rd of 2020 where he allegedly brandished a weapon at two Circle K locations and was then later tied to opening fire at a Madison Avenue residence just hours later.
He was arrested and charged with the armed robberies, and then arrested again after he was linked to the separate shooting.
Allen's case carried on over the course of the last two years with many delays - most notably being taken in for a mental evaluation to determine his psychological state.
In June 2022, a judge ruled Allen was competent to stand trial after passing a court-ordered mental evaluation, but he later accepted the state's plea offer.
In the terms of the plea offer, it was agreed that he would plead guilty to attempted first-degree murder and two counts of armed robbery - ultimately dismissing 14 of the 17 counts.
"The court finds that a partially mitigated term is appropriate given the defendant's relative young age," said Judge David Haws upon sentencing Wednesday. "It is ordered the defendant will serve a mitigated term of nine-years in the Arizona Department of Corrections with credit for 684 days of pre-sentence incarceration."
Allen was given nine-years for all three counts he pleaded guilty to, but they will run concurrently, meaning they will run at the same time instead of back-to-back. This along with his nearly two-years already served, that time will be heavily reduced.
