AUBURN — An Oxford man will serve less than a year in jail for his part in the 2013 robbery of The Big Apple store in Poland.

Cote Hall, 19, was sentenced Wednesday to eight years, but seven years and three months of that sentence were suspended, leaving just nine months of jail time, according to an agreement reached between prosecutors and Hall. He had pleaded guilty to felony robbery, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Hall and three juveniles robbed The Big Apple store at Five Corners on Nov. 4, 2013, shortly before 11:30 p.m. They wore hoodies and bandannas in an effort to disguise their appearance.

A clerk at the store told police that four males had entered and one of them pointed what appeared to be a “fully functional firearm” at him, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Matulis said.

They demanded cash of the clerk while one of them collected cartons of cigarettes.

A customer outside the store noticed the disguises and the gun and followed the white car in which the four had fled, Matulis said.

Police were able to locate the car and made a stop on Route 124 in Minot. Hall was driving. The three juveniles also were in the car and were taken into custody. They included two 16-year-olds from South Paris and Norway, and a 17-year-old from Oxford.

Police could see in the car the bandannas and other materials associated with the robbery, Matulis.

Hall later confessed that he and the juveniles had hatched a plan to rob the store. The gun he had used during the robbery was an airsoft, a pellet gun designed to look like a real gun.

Matulis said the plea agreement resulted in a shorter than usual term of incarceration.

“It had a lot to do with Mr. Hall’s age,” Matulis said, and the fact that Hall had finished the required high school curriculum since his arrest. He had presented a certificate of graduation to prosecutors.

“Hall, it appears, has really changed his life around and made a lot of positive steps in his life,” Matulis said. Hall had stopped using drugs and was reintegrated with his family, with some members attending Wednesday’s sentencing in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

“That’s why we made the recommendation we did as far as the amount of time he would serve in custody,” Matulis said.

When Hall is released from jail, he will be on probation for three years. Conditions will include no use or possession of alcohol and illegal drugs. He’ll be subject to random searches for both and testing for the use of both. He must undergo substance abuse counseling and mental health counseling. His curfew will be set by his probation officer and he must live at an approved address. He is barred from returning to that Big Apple store.

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