Richard Chin, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. –
One of the three men accused in a robbery and rape incident involving a couple in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood pleaded guilty Friday, June 22, in Ramsey County District Court.
Paul Deon Rattler, 20, of Minneapolis said he was the one who pointed a 9 mm handgun at a couple in their early 50s as they returned to their apartment in the 1700 block of Norfolk Avenue about 1 a.m. Aug. 26.
Rattler and an accomplice, Derrean Darnel Hogan, forced the man to drive them to an ATM machine to withdraw $500, Rattler said in court. Another accomplice, Kimanie Markeys Carter, admitted he raped the woman in the apartment while that was occurring.
Rattler said he and Hogan brought the husband back to the apartment and forced the couple to lock themselves in the bathroom before the trio fled with the couple’s cellphones and money.
Rattler said he, Hogan and Carter had been smoking marijuana before the robbery. Rattler said a fourth person was in the car that he, Hogan and Carter arrived in, but that person apparently did not participate in the robbery.
Rattler pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting aggravated first-degree robbery. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 17, when he faces a potential sentence of more than 10 years in prison.
Carter, who also pleaded guilty in the case, has received a 20-year prison sentence.
Hogan also pleaded guilty in the case and is scheduled to be sentenced July 24.
