DOUGLAS Two young Gaffney men shared many things in common when they stood before Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes on Tuesday.

Neither Kwame Douglas nor Kendrick Tate had been in trouble with the law before April 2, 2008 — the day both were caught up, along with six others, in a brutal home invasion on Providence Road.

Douglas, 19, and Tate, 20, also shared the fact that they did speak up afterwards, their attorneys and a prosecutor, Principal Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette, would say.

And perhaps most importantly, they shared in the mercy of the crime victim, who passed along her wishes to the court that both men be treated with some leniency based on their willingness to come forward and their expressed remorse.

While Judge Hayes said he took all of that into account during an admittedly difficult sentencing proceeding, he determined the two men differed when it came to one important thing — individual culpability.

TATE “Mr. Douglas you crossed that threshold when you went into the house that night,” the judge told him.

Douglas and Tate each had previously pleaded guilty to charges of first degree burglary, second degree burglary, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, kidnapping, grand larceny and common law robbery.

Douglas was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on the charge of common law robbery and he received concurrent sentences for grand larceny and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. On the most serious offenses, though, he received suspended prison sentences and consecutive terms of probation. Because the prison time was imposed on one of the lesser charges, Douglas will be eligible for parole after serving 25 percent of his sentence.

Judge Hayes would subsequently tell Tate that two factors worked to his benefit; that Tate voluntarily went to police and that he never went inside the home.

“You never crossed that threshold,” he said.

While Tate’s lawyer, Albert Smith, asked that no jail time be imposed, Judge Hayes decided to sentence Tate on the less serious charges he faced under the Youthful Offender Act for a period not to exceed five years.

If Tate violates the rules of the program, the judge warned him that he faces 15 years of imprisonment.

Sentences under the Youthful Offender Act typically include a duration in a YOA facility or a short term of shock incarceration in a Department of Corrections prison, followed by supervised release.

Judge Hayes specifically noted during sentencing that the Department of Corrections should keep both Tate and Douglas away from any facilities already housing co-defendants John Bonner, Joshua Manning and Labrontae Agnew.

All the charges stemmed from an April 2, 2008, incident on Providence Road.

According to testimony during the November 2009 trial of Bonner, the alleged mastermind, the eight defendants met at Bonner’s home April 1, 2008, and a plan was hatched to grab a money bag from a worker at the Corner Stop No. 2 convenience store on Providence Road.

Co-defendants in the case said Bonner was the one who had noticed the woman carrying the bag at the close of business each night. When they got to the scene, however, co-defendants said that it was learned the woman didn’t have the bag with her. A second plan was then hatched to go inside the woman’s home, which was adjacent to the convenience store, and take the convenience store key.

Four of the men, including Bonner, broke into the woman’s home while two stayed outside as lookouts and two stayed in their cars, which were parked about a block away, according to trial testimony.

When they stormed the woman’s bedroom, prosecutors contended that Bonner fired a shot from a handgun and then pointed it at the woman’s head.

The woman was then beaten and some of her night clothes were ripped from her as her attackers demanded money. During Bonner’s trial the jury saw photographs of the woman’s injuries, which included bruises practically from head to toe.

After getting the woman’s keys, Bonner and one of the other codefendants then entered the convenience store and stole cash, co-defendants said.

Altogether, an estimated $25,000 in cash and jewelry were stolen from the convenience store and the woman’s home. Both Douglas and Tate will have to pay restitution as part of their sentences.

Joshua Manning, 23, is serving a 60-year prison sentence for his involvement while Labrontae Agnew, 19, is serving a 30-year sentence.

Bonner, 18, received a life sentence.

The final three codefendants in the case, all of whom have entered guilty pleas, are expected to be sentenced Friday in Cherokee County General Sessions Court.

Lawyers for Douglas and Tate, as well as family members, said both young men were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tate was home on break from college at the time.

“I thought they were fair resolutions of their cases,” said Barnette, who is prosecuting all eight cases. “They fessed up. They told what happened and they cooperated. The big difference is what Judge Hayes said. Douglas went inside. Tate didn’t.”