Soldiers indicted in holdup at store

Two Fort Drum soldiers and a former soldier have been indicted on charges that they robbed a town of Pamelia convenience store at gunpoint in January.

Jesse R. Sprint, 25, and Joshua E. Blan, 24, both face 18 counts contained in grand jury indictments handed up Wednesday in Jefferson County Court, while Christopher L. Fajardo, 22, faces 20 counts.

It is alleged that the trio went into the Nice N Easy, 23100 Route 12, armed with a pistol and a shotgun or rifle and forcibly stole money and cigarettes from the store and cash from a customer, identified in the indictments as Scott Miller.

The indictment does not specify which of the men carried weapons, but each was charged with committing a robbery in which weapons were displayed, putting victims in fear of injury or death.

Police said at the time that about $750 was stolen from the store, along with about 20 packs of cigarettes. It is alleged that about $180 was taken from Mr. Miller.

Mr. Sprint and Mr. Blan are charged with four counts each of first-degree robbery, three counts each of second-degree menacing, fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny, two counts each of first-degree criminal use of a firearm and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and a single count of fourth-degree conspiracy.

Mr. Fajardo faces the same counts, as well as two additional counts of second-degree robbery.

Mr. Blan and Mr. Fajardo were active members of the 3rd Brigade at Fort Drum at the time of the alleged incident, while Mr. Sprint had been discharged from the Army in November. On May 7, he received the Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device for capturing an enemy gunman in Afghanistan on July 20, 2009.