VAN NUYS : Man, 18, Sentenced in Botched Robbery

The best friend of a former Glendale High School football star who was fatally shot by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy during an attempted robbery pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Abel Tiannti Cason, 18, was immediately sentenced to one year in county jail and three years probation by Superior Court Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz.

Cason and Shawn Cole, who was Glendale High’s leading rusher last season until he was cut from the team because of academic problems, approached Deputy Robert Carr on Norwich Avenue in Van Nuys on Nov. 13.

Cole pointed a BB gun that looked like a large automatic pistol and demanded money from Carr, who responded by pulling his service revolver and firing three shots at Cole.

Carr also fired at Cason as he ran away, but missed.

A third man, who drove the getaway car, Andrew Wright, 18, was not prosecuted in exchange for his testimony.

A fourth man involved in the botched robbery, Ian Jerde, 19, is scheduled to be tried before Stoltz on June 18. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison.

Stoltz had the option of sending Cason to state prison, but decided on a local jail sentence because he cooperated with investigators, he has no prior criminal record and he has a great deal of remorse for the incident.

“He is a shy, quiet, introspective young man who got caught up in a tragic situation which will impact his life forever,” defense attorney Tamar Rachel Toister wrote in a document filed with the court.