Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - A Rochester man has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for his role in a violent robbery earlier this year.

20-year-old Ali Robida and 18-year-old Jacob Meier robbed the Gamestop store in northwest Rochester on February 19th.

Meier told police he struck a 23-year-old store employee on the head with a hammer during the robbery. The victim suffered a fractured skull and had to undergo emergency surgery.

Olmsted County Adult Detention Center photo
Olmsted County Adult Detention Center photo
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According to the complaint, Meier told police Robida “owed a debt to a drug dealer and the robbery was an effort to obtain funds to pay that debt.” Police later learned Robida had sold 16 video games to a pawn store in Duluth two days after the robbery. They were apparently taken during the Rochester robbery.

Meier pleaded guilty in September and is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

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