5th of 6 accused of being in robbery ring enters guilty plea

As his mother sat wiping tears from her eyes in the courtroom gallery, a Clark County man pleaded guilty Monday to carrying out two robberies of central Arkansas businesses in which shots were fired in 2013.

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Daniel Glenn Caple, 22, who was accused of being part of a robbery ring that was responsible for about 7 percent of all armed robberies in the Little Rock metropolitan area in 2012 and 2013, also pleaded guilty to forcibly assaulting a federal corrections officer in Seattle while awaiting a court-ordered mental evaluation last year.

He faces 25 years to life in federal prison, where parole isn't available, when sentenced at a later date.

The guilty pleas came a week and a day before a scheduled federal jury trial for Caple and Christopher Earnest Bell, 38, of Little Rock -- the only remaining defendants in a 2013 six-defendant indictment. The others have all entered guilty pleas, and so far only one has been sentenced.

The six were charged in a 27-count federal indictment with conspiring to commit armed robberies of at least 20 fast-food restaurants, gas stations and other businesses in Little Rock, Benton, Bryant, Sherwood, Lonoke and Carlisle. U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer said then that while most armed robberies are charged individually in state court, the men were charged in federal court after the Little Rock Police Department requested assistance from the FBI upon noticing similarities among the robberies that indicated they might be the work of a single group.

Caple's guilty pleas to two counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence concerned an armed robbery that occurred at 5:48 p.m. Jan. 4, 2013, at Mabelvale Automotive at 5204 Mabelvale Pike in Little Rock; and an armed robbery at 1:05 p.m. Jan. 10, 2013, at the Shell Super Stop at 16824 Interstate 30 in Benton.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters, filling in for Assistant U.S. Attorney Benecia Moore, said Caple entered both businesses dressed in all-black clothing.

She said that in the auto parts store, he told employees he was lost, his car was broken down and he needed a tow, and then sat down to wait after they promised to help him. After chatting for a while with another person waiting for help, Caple got up and went into the business' office, where he pulled a gun on employees and told them, "I hate to do this," Peters said. She said he then pushed a woman out of his way, and announced, "I'll shoot you if you don't give me the money."

Peters said the woman's mother, who was also in the room, pushed Caple's gun to the floor, causing it to discharge. She said Caple took off running with $4,000 cash and a rusty gun, and that the victims later identified him in a photo lineup.

Peters said that in the Jan. 10 robbery in Benton, Caple was wearing a ski mask as he entered the gas station and convenience store and pointed his gun in the faces of two clerks working behind the counter, threatening to kill them both if they didn't give him the money. He then fired his gun into the floor and hopped over the counter, snatching cigarettes and $200 in cash before running out of the business and jumping into a white sedan with an open door waiting in the parking lot.

Tony Bernard Smith, now 30, of Little Rock admitted in an earlier court appearance that he was the driver of the getaway car. He is awaiting sentencing in connection with his guilty plea last week.

Caple admitted Monday that Peters' version of events was true, and then described what he did in his own words, at the request of U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes.

Caple also admitted that at 2:04 p.m. on May 27, 2014, while in federal custody in Seattle awaiting a mental evaluation, he screamed at an officer and then wrestled with him on the ground, punching the officer in the head multiple times before two other inmates pulled Caple off the officer. The officer suffered minor injuries.

As Caple stood before the judge in arm and leg shackles, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit that left several tattoos on his neck visible, and described his actions in his own words, his mother covered her face with her hands. Two other family members sat beside her.

A plea agreement negotiated by defense attorney Joe Perry of Marianna and the U.S. attorney's office states that the parties will recommend at sentencing that Caple serve the sentences on the three felonies concurrently and that he be included in a $31,353.05 restitution order to be paid jointly and severally by all the convicted defendants in the case.

Also awaiting sentencing in the case are Mike Dwayne Waller, 47, and Justin Prince Pettis, 25, both of Little Rock, who negotiated guilty pleas in April. Antwann Deshawn Sockwell, 26, of Little Rock, is serving an eight-year prison sentence for his Jan. 31, 2014, guilty plea to a conspiracy charge.

Bell faces a jury trial beginning Sept. 8 on a charge of conspiring to interfere with commerce by robbery and nine counts of interfering with commerce by robbery.

Metro on 09/01/2015

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