<p>A Beech Grove man is facing more than 46 years in prison after a jury convicted him of robbing a man of marijuana and cash and hitting a woman with a gun during the robbery at a Greenwood apartment.</p>
<p>Brandon Saloane was convicted in a jury trial this week of two Level 3 felonies of armed robbery and robbery, a Level 4 felony of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and a Level 6 felony of battery with moderate bodily injury. The charges stem from a drug deal gone wrong on July 4.</p>
<p>The verdict was delivered Thursday inside Johnson County Circuit Court after a jury deliberated separately for the charges, being ordered to consider the gun charge separately from the other charges.</p>
<p>Prosecuting attorneys Daylon Welliver and Mat Taylor argued that Saloane asked a friend to set up a marijuana buy in Greenwood and then grabbed her gun out of her purse while they were walking out to their vehicles before the drug deal.</p>
<p>Testimony from witnesses and police officers, a taped interview with Saloane following the robbery and phone call transcripts from the Johnson County jail of conversations between Saloane and a family member provided the backbone of the prosecution’s evidence.</p>
<p>Prosecutors argued that Saloane arrived and paid the resident of a Greenwood apartment cash, and in return, he was given marijuana. Saloane used the restroom, then shoved a gun into the resident’s side and attempted to rob him, they said.</p>
<p>A woman who was sleeping in the apartment told the jury that she got up and Saloane smacked her in the face with a gun. A bullet was fired, but it is unclear if it grazed the woman. The woman received facial stitches for her injury.</p>
<p>Saloane, who represented himself, said that everyone who took the stand was lying. He claimed that he was left handed and that the injuries to the woman’s face were likely not caused by someone who was left handed. He also argued that the state did not prove that a gun caused the injuries.</p>
<p>He also argued that the man he was buying the marijuana from did not measure the drug out, even though Saloane had asked him to and that he felt disrespected because the man did not do what he asked.</p>
<p>Saloane asked the jury how they would react and feel if they got an incorrect order from McDonald’s and Starbucks and how they would react if the employees did not correct the order.</p>
<p>His sentencing is set for Dec. 5.</p>
<p>Saloane faces up to 16 years in prison for each of the Level 3 felonies, 2 1/2 years for the Level 6 felony and up to 12 years in prison for the Level 4 felony.</p>
<p>Judge Andy Roesener who presided over the trial could order that all or some of the sentences be served concurrently.</p>
