GAFFNEY MEN RECEIVE LENGTHY PRISON SENTENCES FOR VIOLENT ATTACK

Two Gaffney men received lengthy prison sentences today after they admitted to abducting a convenience store worker at gunpoint in her home and making her open her nearby workplace so they could steal from it.

Joshua D. Manning, 22, and Labrontae Agnew, 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary, kidnapping, two counts of grand larceny, armed robbery and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature before Circuit Judge Mark Hayes in Spartanburg. Manning received a 60-year prison sentence and Agnew received a 30-year prison sentence. Both men will serve 85 percent of their sentences before they are eligible for release.

Manning and Agnew were among a group of 8 men who approached a Providence Road home on April 2, 2008 with the intention of robbing the residence and burglarizing the nearby store. Two of the men stood outside as lookouts while Manning, Agnew and two others entered about 2:20 a.m. A 32-year-old woman was pulled from her bed and held against her will so she couldn’t call for help or try to escape. The bandits fired 3-4 gun shots in the bedroom to scare the victim further while the house was ransacked. The men collected a sum of cash, a passport, check card, jewelry, a set of keys and forced the victim to identify the key that opened the business.

Part of the group went to the nearby convenience store and burglarized it. When the store’s alarm sounded, the bandits who stayed in the house began to beat and kick the victim on her head, back and side. The bandits fled when the alarm sounded.

The victim had a cut over left eye and the left side of her face was badly swollen when she spoke to police. The victim received treatment at Upstate Carolina Medical Center.

Four of Manning and Agnew’s co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

“The victim is a courageous lady and I’m thankful she survived this horrific crime,” Principal Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette said. “She helped law enforcement build a strong case.”

For more information, contact Murray Glenn at 809-4892.