A man indicted in connection with the November armed robbery of a Natchez pawn shop pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted robbery and was sentenced to serve five years on probation.

David Bradley, 17, and LaJoshua White, 16, were originally charged with armed robbery of Old South Pawn Shop on St. Catherine St., Nov. 7.

A third man, Clifton Lashon Jackson, 19, led the robbery, Bradley said Thursday.

A shop employee fired at Jackson, striking him in the front of his head, police said at the time. Jackson died two hours later.

Bradley, who had no prior convictions, said he was just caught up in the situation. When Jackson handed him a bandana, he thought he was joking, Bradley said.

He told a story of hit-and-miss school attendance and being allowed to stay up and watch television all night. He only reached the seventh grade, he said.

Bradley said he was working on getting his GED and hoped to go to college.

Circuit Judge Lillie Blackmon Sanders asked if he had anything else to say. “I want to tell the people I’m sorry,” Bradley said.

Shop owner Billie Pruitt, who was in the shop at the time of the robbery attempt, did not attend Thursday’s hearing, but Assistant District Attorney Walt Brown read her statement.

“Our wonderful freedom is gone,” Brown read. “I never thought anything of opening the shop by myself. Now, I wait for other employees.”

Pruitt had always had a trusting relationship with her customers, according to her statement.

“Now, I get nervous when customers come in with hoods on,” Brown read. “I hope to God I never experience anything like this again.”

In her statement, Pruitt said she hoped both Bradley and White would benefit from rehabilitation and asked for the maximum sentence, 15 years.

Sanders sentenced Bradley to five years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. She then ordered the sentence be suspended and placed him on five years of probation. He also must complete the GED program and remain employed, she said.

“On one hand, you’re a young man who fell through cracks in the educational system,” Sanders said. “It seems the worst you ever did was miss school and watch TV all night. On the other hand, you seemed to be going with a gun to someone’s business and know where you were going.”

Bradley would forever be a convicted felon, Sanders said.

“You get a speeding ticket, you’ve got a problem. You get into a fight on the corner, you’ve got a problem,” Sanders said. “You used up all your good favors.”

White was transferred to youth court on Sanders’ orders.

Brown said his office made no recommendations for sentencing and it was up to the judge to rule on the case.