FORNEY, Texas — A Mesquite, Texas, man has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in what police described as a coordinated robbery scheme of a Forney man at his home in 2015.
FORNEY, Texas — A Mesquite, Texas, man has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in what police described as a coordinated robbery scheme of a Forney man at his home in 2015.
Yesterday, 33-year-old Darius Franchot Madden of Mesquite, Texas, was sentenced to life in prison for burglary of a habitation intend other felony for his role in the home invasion in which the homeowner was bound and brutally beaten.
Police say a former co-worker of the victim conspired with at least four other individuals to perpetrate the robbery. On June 3, 2015, three suspects drove to the victim’s home in the 400 block of Redbud Drive in Forney, Texas, where one of the suspects dressed as a sales agent while a second awaited nearby to forcibly gain access to the home once the door was opened.
Once inside, police say the two men bound and brutally beat the homeowner before robbing him.
A suspicious vehicle call on a third suspect sitting in a vehicle outside the home brought police to the location which later alerted them to the ongoing home invasion — resulting in the arrests of Ray Emmitt Madden in the vehicle and Darius Madden and then 22-year-old Larry Eugene Ranson III of Dallas, Texas, after they fled the scene on foot.
Police made a major break in the case nearly a year after the home invasion — the culmination of the issuance of search warrants which included cell phone, computer, and social media records.
The three additional suspects were identified as Joe Frank Vargas, Steven Simmons, and Allen Damon Sanders all of Mesquite, Texas.
In August 2016, Ranson pled guilty to the charge of burglary of a building intend other felony and received 15 years in prison and was ordered to pay a $500 fine, $308 in court costs, and $7,614.44 in restitution to the victim.
During Madden’s trial, he was removed from the courtroom at least once while making outbursts and later threatened a law enforcement officer. He was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $308 in court costs and is awaiting transfer to the Texas Department of Corrections.
A jury trial scheduled for Vargas on January 17, 2017, was canceled and an open plea hearing was scheduled for March 2, 2017.
Simmons’ January 17, 2017, jury trial was also canceled and rescheduled for February 21, 2017.
A January 17, 2017, jury trial for Sanders was also canceled and rescheduled for March 20, 2017.
Charges against Ray Madden were dropped.
Darius Madden has previous convictions for aggravated robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in Dallas County. Ranson and Sanders have previous convictions for possession of marijuana in Denton County. Simmons has previous convictions stemming back to 1982 for burglary of a vehicle, theft, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of dangerous drugs, evading arrest, burglary of a habitation, burglary of a building, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and assault causes bodily injury in Dallas County.
