ASHEVILLE, NC (828newsNOW) —
A Candler man has pleaded guilty to charges related to a January 2024 robbery at a Hot-Spot mini-market that he reportedly told police was “because of drugs,” the Buncombe County District Attorney’s office reported.
According to a press release, Johnny Christopher Freeman, 40, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to counts of:
* Felony common law robbery
* Felony larceny
* Felony possession of a firearm by a felon
* Misdemeanor DWI
He was sentenced to serve an active prison term of 60 to 99 months in the custody of the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections, the district attorney’s office said.
According to the press release, he was charged on Jan. 22, 2024, after police were dispatched to a reported robbery at a Hot Spot mini-market on Brevard Road. Witnesses told investigating officers that while the owner of a parked silver Mazda was shopping inside the store, Freeman entered the vehicle, pulled a knife from his pocket and then drove away in the vehicle with a passenger still in the back seat, the release stated.
“Freeman drove a short distance onto Old Brevard Road then told the back seat passenger to exit the vehicle,” the release states. Soon after, North Carolina State Highway Patrol received a report of a vehicle in a ditch in the 200 block of Wesley Branch Road and advised the Asheville Police Department.
Asheville police recovered the vehicle, searched the area and found Freeman fleeing the scene, the release states. He was taken into custody and, according to the district attorney’s office, while he was being transported to jail he admitted taking the vehicle, saying he did it “because of drugs.”
Since his arrest on Jan. 22, 2024, he had accrued 140 days of pretrial jail credit while being held at Buncombe County Detention Facility, the release states.