2 plead guilty to armed robbery of driver in Mt. Pleasant Township

Two men pleaded guilty this week to an armed robbery two years ago in Mt. Pleasant Township.

Elijah Ben Chaabane and Jake Daniel Franklin, both 20, along with another juvenile, originally were charged in connection with Dec. 19, 2020, incident in which police said a man hired to drive to a mobile home in Mt. Pleasant was robbed and threatened at gunpoint by his passenger and two friends.

Chaabane, who was then two weeks shy of his 18th birthday, arranged for a ride through a social media site and paid a driver $40 for a trip from North Huntingdon to Mt. Pleasant, according to court records.

Police said the driver and two others rode with Chaabane, who entered the mobile home and moments later returned to the vehicle with two friends and a gun.

Chaabane, along with Franklin and a juvenile demanded money and clothes from the driver and his friends, police said. One of the accusers was in his underwear when he spoke with investigators, police said.

Chaabane and Franklin pleaded guilty to charges of robbery, conspiracy and possession of a weapon with an altered serial number. Multiple counts of robbery along with single charges of theft, simple assault and other related offenses were dismissed as part of the plea deals.

Franklin, who has been in jail since his arrest, was released on a nonmonetary bond pending his sentencing hearing in three months before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears. Chaabane, who posted a $100,000 bond in July 2022, will remain free as he awaits sentencing.