By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A 20-year-old Hays man pleaded guilty to a pair of lesser charges Wednesday after initially being charged with a pair of sex crimes involving a minor.
Robert Anthony Mewhinney, 20, Hays, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated burglary Wednesday in Ellis County District Court. Both are level five felonies on the Kansas Sentencing grid.
Mewhinney was initially charged with electronic solicitation and sexual exploitation of a child in September 2022. Both are level three felonies.
According to court documents, on September 16, 2022, Mewhinney, who was 19 at the time, solicited a minor, under the age of 16, via Snapchat to commit and engage in an unlawful act.
The level three felonies carry a required prison sentence of between 55 and 240 months in prison if convicted in Kansas.
As a result of the plea agreement, Mewhinney pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated burglary in an Alford Plea.
In the Alford Plea, Mewhinney agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charges even though he did not commit the crimes he pleaded guilty to.
The Alford Plea allows both the state and the defense to come to an agreed-upon sentence that does not fall into the sentencing guidelines.
Because Mewhinney pleaded guilty to the two level three felonies, he faces between 31 and 34 months on each count for a total of up to 68 months in prison. The sentencing also allows for the judge to grant probation instead of prison time.
According to the plea agreement both the state of Kansas and Mewhinney’s defense attorney are asking the judge to sentence him to 36 months probation, with the underlying prison sentence.
As a result of pleading guilty to the lesser charges he will not have to register as a sexual offender.
District Court Judge Glenn Braun ordered Mewhinney meet with court services to set up a plan for his release on supervised bond while awaiting sentencing.nSentencing is set for April 3.