[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]St. Cloud man sentanced to nearly 23 years in prison for drug deal shooting[/title][fusion_text]Monday, June 1st 2015
A Stearns County judge sentenced a St. Cloud man Thursday to nearly 23 years in prison for shooting a man twice during a drug deal in July. 25-year old Cornelius Kinte Payton was convicted of first- and second-degree attempted murder, first-degree aggravated robbery, two counts of second-degree assault and possessing a firearm after being convicted of a violent crime. Payton was convicted of shooting the man twice when he tried to rip off the victims during a marijuana deal July 8th in the 200 block of 33rd Avenue South in St. Cloud. Payton waived his right to a jury trial and allowed a Stearns County District Court Judge to decide his fate. The judge sentenced Payton to 13 years, eight months in prison for attempted murder and nine years, three months on the robbery charge. Those sentences will run consecutively and concurrently to a five-year sentence for illegally possessing a firearm. Payton acknowledged that he brought the gun to the marijuana deal and that the gun discharged. He denied that he intentionally fired the gun or that he intended to hurt the victim. The gunshots hit the victim in the neck and the back of shoulder. The victim survived.
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