Woman sentenced for armed robbery

FRITZ MAYER
Posted 7/3/18

HONESDALE, PA — Kelley Branning, 30, has been sentenced from 40 to 96 months in prison for committing an armed robbery in December 2017. According to Wayne County District Attorney Patrick …

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Woman sentenced for armed robbery

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HONESDALE, PA — Kelley Branning, 30, has been sentenced from 40 to 96 months in prison for committing an armed robbery in December 2017. According to Wayne County District Attorney Patrick Robinson, Kelly robbed the China Castle Restaurant on Main Street in Honesdale, wearing a mask and brandishing a handgun. She made off with about $347.

The incident was investigated by the Honesdale Police Department, and Branning was arrested three days later. She pleaded guilty to robbery with threat of serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony.

Robinson said, “It was clear that the defendant, Branning, was very remorseful for her actions. The hand gun used by Branning was ultimately located and was a pellet gun. While Branning claimed she had no intent to harm anyone, her actions on December 18, were extremely dangerous. The restaurant owner could very easily have been armed, a patron could have been armed, and the responding police were obviously armed. Branning could have easily been shot, or an innocent bystander could have been hit by a stray bullet. In any event, the restaurant owner was extremely frightened in this episode.

“On June 28 we had over 30 cases with sentencings and guilty pleas. Of those cases, well over 50% were in some way drug related. In this case, Branning robbed the China Castle restaurant in order to get money to buy cocaine.”

Robinson commended the Honesdale Police Department for their work in the case, and asked members of the public with information regarding the sale or use of illegal drugs to report the activity to the Wayne County Drug Task Force at 570/253-4912 or the text tip-line at 570/391-0657.

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