CLARIFICATION: Attorney Laurin Haddad, who was quoted in an Aug. 29 story about the sentencing of 15-year-old Anthony Stewart for a robbery that netted 7 cents, said the quote attributed to her created a false impression of her opinion.

Haddad criticized the judge's decision to sentence Stewart as an adult, but she did not blame the judge for Stewart's felony record, as the original quote may have implied.



"The conviction, based on the facts presented at trial, made him a felon," Haddad said by way of clarification. "But what is most disappointing is that the judge refused to grant him youthful offender status and as a result made him a liability to society for the rest of his life."

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A 15-year-old Syracuse boy will spend the next two to six years in juvenile detention and the rest of his life as a felon as a result of his sentencing today for a robbery that netted him and an accomplice seven cents.

Onondaga County Judge William Walsh rejected a defense lawyer’s request to treat Anthony Stewart, of West Onondaga Street, as a youthful offender. That means his felony conviction will remain on his permanent record.

Walsh said he might have ruled differently if Stewart had pleaded guilty, as did his accomplice, Skyler Ninham, 16. Earlier this month Walsh sentenced Ninham as a youthful offender to one and one-third to four years in state prison. Stewart, who is not old enough for prison, will be sent to a juvenile detention facility.

Both Ninham and the 73-year-old robbery victim identified Stewart as a participant in the crime, Walsh said. “And yet you still denied it,” Walsh said to Stewart. “Well, that cost you.”

Stewart was convicted by a jury of first-degree robbery in July, two days before Ninham pleaded guilty. According to prosecutors, Stewart and Ninham ran up behind the victim Dec. 22 and knocked him to the ground. Ninham kicked the victim and Stewart punched him in the face, breaking his glasses, before the victim handed over the seven cents in his pocket, prosecutors said. The two teens had handguns, which Stewart later said were BB guns, prosecutors said.



Lawyer Laurin Haddad, who represented Stewart, said afterward that she was disappointed by the judge's decision to deny youthful-offender treatment. In a presentencing report, a probation officer also recommended treating Stewart as a youthful offender.

“For seven cents, now you’re making someone a felon for the rest of his life,” she said.

Read our previous coverage of this story.