Neville
A New Whiteland man has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in a 2021 arranged gun sale that turned into an armed robbery.
Stormy Lee Neville, 23, pleaded guilty to armed robbery, a Level 3 felony, in Johnson County Superior Court 3 in May. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison, all executed, with a 495-day jail credit. He will be required to pay $200 in restitution to the victim, along with $185 in court fees. A Smith & Wesson .45 caliber pistol of his was forfeited, and he was recommended to enter a recovery while incarcerated program, according to court documents.
Neville and another man, Damien Blaze Morical-Jones, 21, of Greenwood, went to an apartment on the 600 block of South Pleasant Street in Edinburgh in January 2021. The victim told police that Neville had said he would trade him a Targa .25 caliber pistol for the victim’s Smith & Wesson .45 caliber pistol and cash, according to a probable cause affidavit filed on January 20, 2021.
Shortly after Neville and Morical-Jones arrived at the apartment, the victim left to get money and the gun while Neville filled out a receipt for the deal, which had since turned into a transaction. When the victim returned, they began the deal, according to the affidavit.
Once the victim handed Morical-Jones the money, Neville took the victim’s gun, pointed it at his head and asked him to leave, refusing to return the weapon or pay for it, the affidavit says.
The victim then left and went to a friend’s house to call the police. Later, an officer went to the apartment and while they were waiting for backup, two men matching the descriptions of Morical-Jones and Neville exited the apartment. The officer told the men to stop and they were taken into custody shortly after. When officers searched them, they did not find any guns on them, according to the affidavit.
Morical-Jones and Neville told police they were staying overnight with a friend in the apartment and that they did not live there, which was later confirmed by the apartment owner. Officers later searched the apartment and found a safe, which the apartment owner said belonged to a former partner. They did not know how to access it.
Police then spoke with the victim, who confirmed that Morical-Jones and Neville were the ones who robbed him. Both Morical-Jones and Neville were asked about the safe and the guns and neither replied, the affidavit says.
As the duo were being escorted out of the apartment, Neville told police that Morical-Jones knew about the safe and where the key was. Morical-Jones later told officers where to find a key, and once police found it, they opened the safe. The safe contained two handguns that matched the descriptions of the weapons that were used in the sale, and later the robbery, according to the affidavit.
They also found a cap gun in the safe, but it was not part of the sale. Police seized the money that both males were carrying, including the funds from the sale, the affidavit says.
Morical-Jones is also charged for his role in the incident. Prosecutors charged him with theft, as a Level 6 felony, in January 2021. His case is pending, and his next court hearing is on Aug. 11, online court records show.
