A LaGrange man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison and five years’ probation for an armed robbery at Charter Bank on South Davis Road at Lafayette Parkway.

Edward Donel Goodwin Jr., 39, who pleaded guilty to armed robbery and fleeing officers, will have to serve every day of the prison term under state law, even though it’s his first offense, defense attorney Peter Alford said.

His parents, retired hairstylists Don and Jane Goodwin, declined comment after the sentencing. They have said they believe their son committed the robbery to help the family get out of debt.

“They were swamped with bills and he made a very poor decision,” Alford said. “He decided to rob Charter Bank.”

Alford called it a “sad case - sad for the employees of Charter who were exposed to an armed robbery, sad for the defendant’s parents and sad for the defendant, who has to serve 10 years.”

State law requires a minimum 10-year prison term for armed robbery, but if Judge Allen Keeble had been able to exercise discretion “I think he would have done something different,” Alford said. “I’m confident Judge Keeble would not have required him to serve 10 years. He said, ‘My hands are tied.’ “

“It’s a bad idea,” Alford said of mandatory sentences. “It removes discretion from the trial judge. If sentences are automatic, you don’t need a judge. Based on the facts of this case, this young man will have to serve way too much time in the prison system. … Justice kind of needs to be tempered with compassion. “

He noted that Goodwin committed the robbery “with a plastic pellet pistol that didn’t even work.”

Assistant district attorney Melissa Himes said she thought it was an appropriate sentence, noting that bank tellers Stephanie Hand and Ashley Davis were “very fearful” for their lives, especially because Goodwin kept saying, “You’re not fast enough.”

“It made them contemplate that they might be shot,” Himes said. “… It was clearly planned and executed.”

Goodwin parked his car away from the bank, distorted his face with a mesh material, and wiped the bank door so he wouldn’t leave fingerprints, she said.

More than $7,000 was stolen in the robbery on Aug. 6, 2008, but virtually all of it was recovered.

Police and sheriff’s deputies tracked him down a few minutes later and Goodwin accelerated his car toward an officer, Himes said.

“The LaGrange Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department handled the situation very well,” she said.. “No one was injured and no shots were fired. It could have turned out differently.”

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@ lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.