Dudley gets 99 years on robbery charge

This isn’t the first time Robert Steven Dudley has been accused of aggravated robbery, but it was his first conviction of the offense.

The 244th District Court jury took just 15 minutes to come to a guilty verdict Friday on the charge and more than double that time to sentence him to 99 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Dudley, 39, was charged with aggravated robbery in connection with a Dec. 2, 2008, robbery from a Chevron convenience store, 4117 Andrews Highway.

Prosecutor Scott Layh said Dudley robbed the store with two other men, who were “lookouts,” and pointed the gun at clerk Michelle Perkins when he asked for all the money in the store.

“You see the frantic look on her face,” Layh said. “You see how she’s moving at a different pace at that time. She was scared for her life.”

Dudley was also convicted of robbery, the lesser included offense of aggravated robbery, in 2010 from an incident that occurred less than a week before this one.

He still faces charges stemming from two escapes from the Ector County Detention Center, details of which were flushed out during the sentencing phase of the trial.

Martin Muniz, the owner of DND Tire Shop and Diesel Mechanic, said Dudley actually started one of the vehicles in his lot Jan. 29, 2011, when Muniz was keeping lookout for looters that had frequented the shop, after Dudley escaped from the jail.

Muniz said he started driving up to the vehicle while he called 9-1-1, at which point Dudley and one of his fellow escapees, Russell Graham Rice, ran from the vehicle into the bushes.

During a video interview with former Ector County Sheriff’s Office investigator D.C. Jones, which was played for the jury, Dudley began to speak with the officer about his escape but looked to be in some discomfort.

“Are you comfortable?” Jones asked.

“No, sir,” Dudley responded. “I’ve got stickers in me still.”

Dudley revealed during the video interview the first escape in January happened after the last headcount and before the nurse came around with medication.

Jailer Matthew McCrury said he should have seen the signs that the March escape would happen just hours before Dudley was found to be escaped.

First, he said Dudley gave up his soup to another inmate.

“Soups in jail are like gold,” McCrury said. “They’re not given away lightly.”

He also said he heard some inmates whistling loudly about the time Dudley was cutting his way through the ceiling, which should have alerted him something odd was happening.

But when he came by at 5:30 a.m. to give Dudley breakfast, he found that the bed was stuffed with clothes and towels so it looked as if he was still in the cell.

@OAcourts