A Roseville man was sentenced to four years in prison for burglarizing the home of St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter in August, an incident Carter described as “traumatizing” for him and his family.
Ramsey County District Judge Robert Awsumb handed down Larobin Shawntel Scott’s sentence during a hearing last Friday, according to court records.
The 24-year-old was charged with first-degree burglary last summer after the then- mayoral candidate alerted police that his family’s home had been ransacked. The items missing included a video game system, ammunition, a plastic bag with a child’s tooth inside, a box of cigars and two handguns.
Carter’s neighbor had notified him that someone was at his house in the 400 block of Aurora Street the morning of Aug. 15, 2017, prompting Carter to return home and call 911.
Carter, who was elected to the mayor post in November, told officers that he saw a man in his back yard who started running. Carter followed him in his vehicle and then ran after him, but the suspect got into a sport utility vehicle that drove away, according to court records.
Police discovered the front door of Carter’s home had been damaged and a basement window broken. There was also heavy damage on the door from the garage into the house.
Two days later, police stopped a vehicle that matched the description of the SUV and found several of the missing items, minus the two handguns, inside. Scott was driving it.
He denied any involvement in the burglary at the time but pleaded guilty to the charge in April after reaching a plea deal with the state.
According to a motion filed by his defense attorney, public defender Luis Enrique Rangel Morales, Scott admitted to serving as the getaway driver in the incident.
Morales argued in the motion that both his client and society would be better served if the court ordered Scott to attend treatment and placed him on probation rather than send him to prison.
Morales cited Scott’s lack of a high school degree, homelessness, “menial job skills” and chemical substance abuse among his reasons.
“At its core, prison lacks the foundation to address these concerns,” Morales wrote.
He added that Scott’s remorse, willingness to take responsibility for his actions and amenability to probation further supported his request.
Morales could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Awsumb wound up sentencing Scott to just over four years in prison.
Carter described the burglary shortly after the incident as a “traumatic one for myself and my family, especially my children.”
The guns stolen from his residence — which Carter said once belonged to his father, a retired St. Paul police officer — were in a locked box and also trigger-locked, according to information provided by his campaign at the time. Carter told police he did not have the guns’ serial numbers.