Man gets 10 years for armed robbery

A Rock Hill man learned there's no leeway in South Carolina for an armed robbery.

Kenneth Jason Rhyne, 19, was sentenced to the minimum sentence of 10 years in the state Department of Corrections on Monday in Cherokee County General Sessions Court after pleading guilty.

The charge stemmed from a Feb. 17 incident during which Rhyne went into the Flying J truck stop in Blacksburg, placed a small handgun on the counter and demanded the clerk give him money. The car Rhyne was in was stopped by Blacksburg police shortly thereafter and his clothing matched the description given by the clerk.

His defense attorney told Circuit Court Judge J. Derham Cole that Rhyne was under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident and that those who know the young man all said it was out of character. Rhyne would have been a good candidate for sentencing as a youthful offender, the defense attorney added, if state law would have allowed it.

State law doesn't allow such sentencing, however, and Judge Cole noted in court that Rhyne would not only have to serve at least 85 percent of the 10-year sentence but that he would face the possibility of life imprisonment if he ever committed a similar crime in the future.

Armed robbery is classified as a "most serious" offense under state law.

Rhyne's case came before the court immediately after a Cowpens man was sentenced to three years in prison for a string of Spartanburg County charges that included the manufacturing of methamphetamine and two burglaries that cost two Spartanburg County businesses an estimated $350,000.

A visiting prosecutor for the 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office in Spartanburg claimed in court that Roger Lee Toler Jr., 33, of Cannons Campground Road, Cowpens, was among a group of four people who stripped a vacant Ingle's market and a Boiling Springs business of wire, copper and other items in 2006. It was estimated the theft and damage at the Ingle's market would cost about $250,000 to fix and that it would cost $100,000 to fix the damage at the Boiling Springs business.

Toler pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, several counts of grand larceny, malicious damage, two drug offenses including the manufacturing of methamphetamine and a weapons charge.

Through a negotiated plea agreement between prosecutors and defense attorneys, Toler received three years of imprisonment on all the offenses and was ordered to pay restitution of $10,000, although the prosecutor conceded the actual restitution was in the "hundreds of thousands."

The arrangement had Judge Cole questioning how the 3- year sentence was derived, as well as whether the victims were in agreement, saying the likelihood of getting restitution was "less than winning the lottery."