JOHN BONNER Two young Gaffney men facing the possibility of life imprisonment for their admitted part in a brutal home invasion conceded from a witness stand Tuesday they had motivation to testify for prosecutors.

But despite repeated assertions from a defense attorney, both claimed they had no reason to lie against one of the other men accused of the crime.

Testifying during the trial of 18-year-old John Bendarian Bonner, co-defendants Kendrick Tate and Robert J. Wilson Jr. described for the jury hearing Bonner’s case how all eight men charged in the April 2, 2008, incident on Providence Road met at Bonner’s home on April 1, 2008, and a plan was hatched to commit a robbery.

Bonner, they said, had been noticing a female worker from the Corner Stop No. 2 convenience store on Providence Road carry a cash bag with her at the close of business each day. The men all agreed to go there and for someone to grab the bag.

But early on April 2, 2008, after it was learned that the woman didn’t have a bag when she left the store that day, a second plan was hatched for someone to go inside the woman’s adjacent home and get the woman’s keys to the convenience store.

Four of the eight men allegedly went inside the woman’s home and police and prosecutors allege the convenience store clerk was beaten, terrorized and threatened at the point of a gun and the edge of a knife as her attackers ransacked the home looking for things of value and stole her keys.

Wilson, 20, of Northwood Drive, said he stayed in his car while six of the other eight went to carry out their plans.

Tate, 20, of Winchester Drive, waited outside the home and admittedly served as a lookout.

While they were aware of the plan to grab the cash bag, neither Tate nor Wilson said they were aware the situation was going to get so bad.

“I just felt bad for the woman — (she) had to endure all of that,” Tate said.

Seven of the eight men charged in the case have entered guilty pleas.

Wilson and Tate, for instance, both pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of first degree burglary, second degree burglary, kidnapping, common law robbery, and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. The charges carry the possibility of life imprisonment and both said they have been given no promises about the sentences they will receive, though prosecutors will inform the court of their cooperation.

Five of the co-defendants reportedly are scheduled to testify against Bonner.

Neither Tate nor Wilson have been sentenced yet and Bonner’s defense attorney repeatedly claimed that their pending sentencing, and hopes for reduced sentences, could be a powerful motivation to lie about Bonner’s involvement.

“Not a motivation to lie,” Tate would later counter, “but a motivation to come forward.“

Though Wilson didn’t see anyone enter the woman’s home or the nearby convenience store, since he was in his car parked about a block away, he was able to identify Bonner as one of the two people caught on a security camera entering the convenience store based on the clothing Bonner wore.

Wilson said Bonner and another co-defendant, Labrontae Agnew, brought back the cash stolen from the convenience store and they split it up later. Wilson said he received about $300.

Tate, who waited outside the woman’s home during the invasion, said Bonner was definitely one of the four who went inside. Tate said he received $300 or $400.

Altogether, according to the owner of the convenience store and the home where the clerk was living, the thieves made off with about $25,000 in cash and jewelry.

Two of the four men accused of going inside the home, Joshua Manning, 22, formerly of West Smith Street, and Agnew, 18, formerly of Chandler Drive, have already been sentenced. Manning was sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison while Agnew was sentenced to a total of 30 years.

Principal Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette of the 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who has been handling the prosecution of all eight men charged in the case, alleged during opening statements that Bonner was the one who started the incident by coming up with the plan to grab the cash bag.

Bonner’s defense attorney, Joshua Schultz, didn’t downplay the crime.

“Everybody knows this is a serious crime,” he told the jury, “but one with which my client had nothing do to.”

Testimony will resume Wednesday morning.

Circuit Court Judge Derham Cole is presiding over the case.