MONTICELLO – A 25-year-old
Monticello man was sentenced in Sullivan County Court on Tuesday to 17
years in state prison and five years of post-release supervisor for his
conviction as a second felony offender for robbery, drug sale and criminal
solicitation charges.
District Attorney James Farrell said Richard Drayton was found guilty,
acting with others, of robbing an individual inside the Shaker Heights
housing complex in Monticello at about 10:40 p.m. on January 7, 2017.
During the robbery, Drayton displayed what appeared to be a firearm, threatening
the victim while he and his brother, Frank Drayton, stole cash and a cell
phone from him.
Frank Drayton had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in
the robbery just prior to the jury returned the guilty verdicts in his
brother, Frank’s case.
The gun turned out to be a starter pistol.
Farrell said DNA was found on clothing Richard Drayton wore during the
robbery and on a pistol magazine found after he eluded the police.
Police also found Richard Drayton’s wallet and social security card
in the vehicle in which they fled.
While awaiting trial, Drayton sent a letter to another jail inmate requesting
that he kill a witness to the robbery. As a result, Drayton pled guilty
to criminal solicitation and admitted to his solicitation of Benjamin
Drayton in April 2016.
Farrell said Drayton also previously pled guilty to two counts of felony
drug sales to selling heroin in August 2014 and cocaine in July 2014 to
an undercover officer in the officer in the Town of Thompson. The Sullivan
County Sheriff’s Office had investigated those cases. Drayton was
out on bail on those drug charges when he committed the robbery to which
he was convicted.
Drayton had also been convicted in Durham Superior Court in North Carolina
in 2011 for breaking and entering.
Farrell’s office had recommended a sentence of 28 ½ to 35
½ years in prison, but he said it was ultimately the judge’s
decision, which the DA said was “appropriate.”
