A Milwaukee man whose partner in an armed robbery was killed by a responding police officer was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for the death.
Gregory B. Rounds, 21, was charged with felony murder after police killed his cousin, 38-year-old Burt Johnson, as he shot at officers in May. Rounds pleaded guilty to the charge in September as a habitual offender.
Someone who commits a felony can be charged with felony murder if someone dies as result of the crime, even if the person doesn't directly cause the death. In Rounds' case, the charge carried a maximum sentence of 41 years in prison, but the prosecutor didn't recommend any specific length.
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Conen's sentence, which includes three years of supervised release after the prison term, was less than what Rounds' attorney recommended — five years plus 10 on supervision. Rounds will get credit for 207 days he's been in jail since his arrest.
"I want you to succeed," Conen told Rounds after a conversation with him about how challenging it will be to resist bad influences in prison, "I don't want you to blow it by being a follower, and wind up doing life on the installment plan."
Just a few years earlier, Rounds seemed on track for a much better spot at age 21. He had a supportive family and was attending Homestead High School in Mequon where he played linebacker on the 2012 Division 2 state championship team. Then in 2013 he was charged with having sex with a 14-year-old girl outside the school when he was 17. He got probation but was revoked and sent to jail for a year after he was caught in a stolen car.
He was about a week away from a pre-trial hearing on a cocaine possession charge last May when his cousin, Johnson, proposed the robbery plan. Rounds told Conen he went along for the money, but Johnson planned the job, brought the guns, drove them there and directed the action.
Rounds and Johnson were wearing masks as they came out of O'Reilly Auto Parts store near N. 76th St. and W. Mill Road on May 5. Both entered with guns drawn demanding money, while employees and at least one customer were present.
Police had already responded to a call at the store, so the suspects began to flee and as they ran, Johnson fired at the pursuing officers. They fired back and Johnson was fatally shot. An officer was also struck during the exchange of gunfire but was saved from serious injury by his body armor.
Police found the second gun nearby and arrested Rounds later. He had left what one detective called a most perfect full handprint on the glass door that the detective had ever recovered from a crime scene.
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