5 convicted in robbery plot that used strippers to distract victim

Three men will face life in prison when they’re sentenced in January for a fatal shooting during a botched armed robbery that involved a pair of strippers, Sacramento County prosecutors said.

Patrick Godines, Travis Mabson and Patrick McPherson were each convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the death of Michael Sanderson, who was killed during the 2011 attempted robbery.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Sanderson had recently been awarded a $50,000 workers compensation settlement and the three defendants planned to steal the money.
Two strippers, Jeanette Campbell, 27, and Aubry Toews, 25, were hired to distract Sanderson inside an apartment until they robbed him, the Bee reported.

But something went wrong inside the apartment and Godines shot Sanderson, authorities said.

Defense attorneys claimed Godines’ accomplices tried to back out of the plan before they were in the apartment but the jury convicted the men nonetheless.

Campbell and Toews each pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for testifying against the three men and are expected to receive six years in prison when they’re sentenced next month, the Bee reported.

The three defendants face life without parole when they’re sentenced Jan. 8, prosecutors said.

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