Gunman gets 25 year prison sentence for botch robbery attempt
(Photo Courtesy: Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Solicitor)
(Photo Courtesy: Fourteenth judicial Circuit Solicitor)
Walterboro, SC (WOLO) —A Colleton County man gets 25 years in prison for what authorities call a drug deal turned deadly. Monday May 20th, 2019, Circuit Court Judge Perry Buckner handed down a 25 year sentence for 26 year old Corey Niko Sanders for his role in a 2017 attempted robbery authorities say led to to the death of 29 year old Joseph Leeman.
Prosecutors say on the day of the botch drug deal Leeman obtained a batch of crystal methamphetamine and arranged for one of his regular customers, to make a purchase. Martinez agreed to meet with
Leeman and his girlfriend that night in the back yard of a home on Nunuville Road. As the deal was being negotiated, Sanders who officials say was hiding in a dim lit area appeared with a gun,
pulled Leeman’s girlfriend from the car she a Leeman sat in and threatened to shoot her if the drugs were not handed over.
According to Leeman’s girlfriend, he refused to comply and instead pulled out his own gun.
Officials say Sanders then shot and killed Leeman before taking off in a car someone else was driving.
Colleton County Sheriff’s Office investigators say they later discovered that just before the murder, Martinez
let Sanders out of the car so he could approach on foot with the gun, part of a plan to rob
Leeman.
Assistant Solicitor Tameaka Legette of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office released a statement concerning the the case saying, :
“There is a theme running throughout a lot of the drug-related cases I prosecute: Drug use and
drug dealing are not victimless crimes,…I see so many property crimes and so much violence as a result of the
drug trade. In this case, one young man is dead and another is headed to prison.
“I hate to sound cliched, but drugs really do kill.”
In October 2018, 39 year old Dana Castillo-Martinez, pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery in
connection with the incident. She awaits sentencing.
