A Durango man charged with robbing a man at knifepoint at a downtown ATM and identity theft chose to pursue a jury trial Thursday, declining to take a plea agreement that held a five-year prison sentence.
Maurice Anderson, 31, of Durango, was arrested in 2015 on suspicion of robbing a man behind the Bank of the San Juans, 144 E. Eighth Street, allegedly stabbing the victim in the chin.
Earlier this year, Anderson again was arrested on suspicion of using a fake identification to purchase a car for $30,000 and then selling it to a Farmington man for $16,385.
Last month, District Judge Jeffery Wilson declined a plea agreement that would have allowed Anderson to serve up to five years at Hilltop House, a community corrections program.
Instead, Wilson said given the violent nature of the ATM robbery, a prison sentence was more appropriate.
On Thursday, Anderson elected to take both charges before a jury. If found guilty, he faces 10 to 32 years in prison.
A trial on the identity theft charge was set for Jan. 23, 2017, and the date for the ATM robbery charge is Feb. 13, 2017.
Anderson will appear at 9 a.m. Oct. 27 for a motions hearing.
