U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Tuesday sentenced a woman who aided a juvenile who committed an armed robbery on the Arch Grounds to two years in prison.
Kaniya Sloan, 20, of Belleville, was in downtown St. Louis on Sept. 13, 2021, along with Christopher Franklin and a juvenile male. The juvenile robbed a man and a woman at gunpoint at about 7:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Gateway Arch, according to court documents. The woman handed over her purse and the male victim handed over his iPhone and wallet.
Franklin then drove with Sloan and the juvenile to a Walmart in Illinois, where they sold the phones in an EcoATM kiosk about 30 minutes later.
Two days after the robbery, St. Louis police spotted Franklin’s vehicle in downtown St. Louis and stopped them. Franklin, Sloan, and the juvenile were in the vehicle, along with a black Glock 19 handgun and one of the items from the female vehicle’s purse.
Both Sloan and Franklin admitted their involvement after being confronted with photographs of the EcoATM kiosk transaction.
Both Sloan and Franklin pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to robbery. Franklin, now 20, of St. Louis County, was sentenced in October to two years in prison.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the National Park Service investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hoag prosecuted the case.
