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For armed robbery of $516, Billings man to spend 13.5 years in federal prison

Posted at 7:00 PM, Nov 07, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-08 16:29:10-05

A Billings man who admitted robbing a Heights casino in the summer of 2018 was sentenced Thursday to 13 years and a half years in federal prison, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.

Joshua Stanley Roberts, 37, had pleaded guilty in February to three federal charges involving the July 27, 2018, armed robbery.

Prosecutors said in court records that Roberts entered Dotty's Casino on Main Street behind another person who had been buzzed in. He pointed a handgun at the attended and demanded money.

Roberts made off with $516 from the casino.

Later that day, Billings police pulled over a vehicle, and Roberts was in the back seat. Officers found a pistol in the back seat, which Roberts wasn't allowed to possess as a felon. He had been convicted in 2008 of possessing a firearm as a felon.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters presided in the case.