The fourth man has been charged in the February 2012 home invasion robbery of Evansville businessman Ira Beumer.
The Courier and Press reports, Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge Wayne Trockman sentenced 22-year-old Nalakeio Bennett, to 40 years in prison.
Although he is the last man to be sentenced, Bennett became the first to plead guilty when he changed his mind, and asked to plead guilty on the second day of his August 2012 trial.
He pleaded guilty to burglary resulting in bodily injury, criminal confinement and theft, as well two sentence enhancement charging that he committed the crimes while part of two criminal gangs.
Bennett’s sentencing was delayed because the plea deal also called for him to testify in the trials of co-defendants Dezmont Hogan, Jeton Hall and Eric Weston Dunn.
Bennett, Hogan and Hall were arrested after Beumer was robbed in his northern Vanderburgh County home early on the morning of Feb. 19, 2012. After the robbery, Beumer pursued the men in his pickup when they left his house in a car, leading to a fatal crash. Antuan Jenkins, 22, was killed in the crash and Hall was severely injured.
A Vanderburgh County grand jury subsequently indicted Beumer for murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery. Beumer’s trial is scheduled March 17.