Could Malachi Draper's participation in an armed robbery and his substance abuse be blamed on his biological father?

Or did the teenager actively help plan and participate in the robbery of Tandy's IGA in Saturday, Jan. 21, and seek out drugs for himself?

After nearly three hours of defense testimony at a sentencing hearing Monday, July 30, Dearborn Superior Court No. 1 Judge Jonathon Cleary sentenced Malachi Draper to 17 years with three suspended and on probation. Draper is to have no contact with his victims, the two employees of Tandy's IGA, during probation.

He was given credit for 191 days in jail, equaling 382 days with good-time credit. With good-time credit here out, he could be released in about seven and a half years.

Draper, 18, pleaded guilty Monday to robbery with a deadly weapon, a Class B felony. A second charge of theft, a Class D felony, was dropped. The potential sentence for the Class B felony is 6 to 20 years incarceration and up to a $10,000 fine.

Draper, 203 Pattison St., Aurora, testified his partner in the robbery, his father Ron Draper, had dictated a written Heist Plan for the crime and “dragged” the younger Draper to the robbery. The older Draper previously was sentenced to 20 years with five suspended through a plea agreement.

During testimony, Draper's mother, two of her friends, and a cousin discussed Malachi Draper's behavior issues, including impulsiveness and a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Several said the youth, 18 at the time of the crime and a high school senior, was unable to write anything like the Heist Plan.

“Had he written a seven-page essay at school, I would have done back flips. … That's a dictation … the Heist Plan,” said Draper's mother Krista Moses, who never married Malachi Draper's biological father. She and her husband of 15 years, David Moses, raised her son and have two children together, she said.

During those years, Malachi Draper struggled at times in school, and she pulled him out to homeschool him twice, once in seventh grade and again when he was a high school sophomore, she said.

“He was bullied severely at school. His glasses have been broken. He was trapped in a bathroom with five boys beating him up,” she testified.