<i>7:45 p.m. update:</i> Millville man pleads guilty to robbing KFC manager

Font: Regular Medium Large

Print Story

Email Story

7:45 p.m. update: Millville man pleads guilty to robbing KFC manager

Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2008

From Press staff reports

BRIDGETON - A Millville man who was charged last year with the attempted murder of a KFC manager pleaded guilty last week to robbery and a weapons charge in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence.

Cumberland County Prosecutor Ron Casella said Tuesday that Dallas H. Preston Jr., 32, of East Broad Street, pleaded guilty July 14 before Superior Court Judge Walter Marshall to the May 5, 2007, robbery of Peggy Kennedy.

According to authorities, Preston ambushed Kennedy as she was heading to a bank to deposit thousands of dollars. Police said the 6-foot, 3-inch Preston hid under Kennedy's car.

Kennedy was shot once in the attack and recovered after undergoing treatment at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

Preston, police said, got away with about $5,200. He was arrested at a Buena motel on July 25, 2007, after DNA results from blood collected at the scene of Kennedy's attack implicated him in the crime.

Preston pleaded guilty last week to one count of first-degree armed robbery and one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted person.

Because the crimes to which he pleaded fall under the state's No Early Release Act, Preston must serve at least 85 percent of his 10-year sentence before he becomes eligible for parole.

Assistant Prosecutor Dave Branco argued the state's case against Preston. His sentencing has been scheduled for Sept. 5.