Robber of 14 Small Stores Is Sentenced to 30 Years

A San Fernando man who robbed 14 liquor stores and neighborhood markets in eight months was sentenced Wednesday in Van Nuys Superior Court to 30 years in prison.

Rudolph D. Jones, 22, an unemployed laborer, pleaded guilty Jan. 21 to 95 felony charges in connection with the robberies.

Michelle R. Rosenblatt, a deputy district attorney, said more than 40 store employees and customers were threatened with death and robbed of cash and jewelry in the holdups committed by Jones and an accomplice from December, 1984, to July, 1985.

Sixteen robberies were committed in Reseda, Canoga Park, Burbank, North Hollywood, Van Nuys, Woodland Hills and Los Angeles, and two of the stores were robbed twice, Rosenblatt said. The robbers carried pistols or a shotgun.

No Record

Jones could have been sentenced to 66 years and four months, but Judge James A. Albracht said a 30-year term was justified because of Jones’ age and lack of a criminal record. With credit for good behavior, Jones could be freed in 15 years.

Oran P. Franklin Jr., Jones’ attorney, argued for a sentence of 20 years, whereas Rosenblatt asked for 40 years.

Several store owners and employees were pistol-whipped, kicked and beaten during the robberies, Rosenblatt said.

In a robbery last July at the Liquor Mart in Canoga Park, 13 customers and employees were herded into a small back room by Jones and an accomplice, Rosenblatt said. They and other victims “truly believed they were going to die” and were “severely traumatized by the experience,” she said.

Cocaine Habit Blamed

Franklin, who said Jones robbed the stores to support a cocaine habit, argued that it should be considered a mitigating factor that the victims were not seriously injured.

Jones pleaded guilty to 41 counts of robbery, 33 of assault with a deadly weapon, 16 of false imprisonment, four of grand theft of an automobile and one of attempted robbery. Jones’ accomplice, Jerold P. Reyes, 20, of Van Nuys, pleaded guilty to 41 counts. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Albracht today.

Rosenblatt said police arrested Jones and Reyes on information supplied by an acquaintance of the two.