A Canton man has been sentenced to serve 25 years in prison for one charge of armed robbery after holding a church staff member at gunpoint earlier this year.
According to court documents, 35-year-old Oscar Stevenson walked into the First Baptist Church of Canton on January 24 and demanded money while pointing a gun at a staff member.
The victim was able to get away from Stevenson and hid in an office before contacting the Canton Police Department.
Officers, who were able to view the robbery through the church’s security cameras, were able to identify Stevenson as the perpetrator due to previous incidences.
Law enforcement quickly apprehended him wearing the same clothes he was wearing during the robbery.
Stevenson had been released on bond out of Canton Municipal Court for an unrelated auto burglary charge days before the incident and was also on parole for various charges through the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC).
“This is yet another example of a frequent flyer of the criminal justice system continually being granted parole and minimal bonds and being allowed to keep committing crimes,” District Attorney Bubba Bramlett stated. “Hopefully now that he has to serve 25 years in the custody of MDOC, plus all of his revoked parole time, he will not be able to steal and rob innocent victims.”
