In twist, prosecutor fights to free felon in armed drug robbery

A man showed up in a hotel parking lot to buy $20 worth of marijuana.

Instead, he was abducted at gunpoint and ordered to turn over his ATM card and pin.

A year later, the alleged gunman is poised to walk free thanks to a plea deal negotiated with the Minnehaha County State's Attorney's Office.

In a rare move, though, a judge rejected the agreement this spring, arguing that Landon Hale is a dangerous criminal who deserves to go to prison.

That decision has been appealed to the South Dakota Supreme Court, putting county prosecutors in the unusual position of advocating for the release of a violent offender.

Hale, who is waiting for a resolution in the Minnehaha County Jail, is a convicted felon with a criminal record in Michigan that includes larceny from a person.

On July 23, 2016, Hale and two other defendants are accused of kidnapping and robbing a Sioux Falls man who had sought to buy drugs from them.

According to the victim's affidavit, he met them outside a hotel in northern Sioux Falls and got into the backseat of a Nissan Altima with the three men.

Hale then held a gun to the victim's temple and told him to surrender all his belongs, the statement says. The men asked if he had any money on his ATM card.

"Yes, a couple thousand," he replied.

From there the situation escalated. The men demanded his phone, ATM card and pin number. They smashed his phone and threw it from the car window, then drove him to a bowling alley with an ATM and threatened to kill him if he didn't help them withdraw money from his account.

The victim said in his statement that he looked up to see where he was and one of the men hit him in the head with the gun. The driver leaned over and ran a knife across the victim's face, saying “I’m going to cut you into 18 pieces so if they find one they have 17 more to look for.”

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

RELATED: Family upset with plea deal in homicide

When the withdraw attempt was unsuccessful, Hale told the victim, "We couldn’t get the money so you’re dead now.”

They ended up dumping him on a gravel road in Iowa. The victim says he ran into a cornfield, spotted a casino and called the police.

According to court documents, Hale and his defense attorney, Sonny Walter, struck a deal with prosecutors to testify against his co-defendants. Hale would plead guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, not serve prison time, and the kidnapping, robbery and remaining assault charges would be dismissed.

However, Bobby Daryl Jones and Justin Ramsay Krohnke both took deals themselves that sent them to prison without the need for trial, meaning Hale was not needed to testify.

Krohnke, the driver of the vehicle, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Jones, the front-seat passenger, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

A deal was a deal, though, from prosecutors' perspective.

"The idea of releasing Hale into the community on probation is unpalatable, but it is the best result attainable based on the facts, circumstances, and plea agreement that both parties believe to have been entered into and accepted," Deputy State's Attorney Randy Sample said in his objections to the court's ruling. 

Sample could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Circuit Judge Susan Sabers said the facts of the case show Hale was more responsible for the crime than the other two who were headed to prison. She also noted the state's attorney’s office did not notify the victim of the plea deal or hearing, a violation of Marsy’s Law.  She rejected the agreement and allowed Hale to withdraw his guilty plea.

Sabers declined to comment, noting that it is an ongoing case. 

The state’s attorney office filed a legal challenge with the South Dakota Supreme Court last month seeking to reinstate the plea deal. Its appeal noted that it could not reach the victim before the hearing due to lack of communication with the state.

Second Judicial Circuit court administrator Karl Thoennes said all proceedings have been stay until the Supreme Court makes a decision on the appeal.

Hale’s lawyer declined to comment on the appeal.