A Jefferson County Jury deliberated just 40 minutes before finding 56-year-old Fredrick Goss of Mt. Vernon guilty of a 2021 armed robbery at the South Tenth Street Huck’s Store in Mt. Vernon and aggravated discharge of a firearm in the direction of a peace officer after shooting at a Mt. Vernon Police Officer responding to the scene.
Goss was in the middle of his first trial on the charges when he was shot by a responding deputy after wrestling a gun away from a Jefferson County Correctional Officer bringing him back to court in his wheelchair following a lunch break. With Goss taken to a St. Louis hospital for treatment, the jury for that trial was dismissed.
In this trial, Goss refused to attend and remained at the Marion County Jail in Salem where he has been held for much of the time since the October first shooting. Public Defender Matt Vaughn only crossed examined prosecution witnesses and offered no witnesses of his own.
The sentencing hearing is set for February 9th.
Goss faces from 21 to 45 years in prison on the armed robbery charge as a result of a 15-year firearm enhancement. The firearm charge carries a 10 to 45-year sentence. The two sentences could be served consecutive to each other if Judge Jerry Crisel is convinced based on the nature and circumstances of the offenses and the history and character of the defendant consecutive sentences are required to protect the public.
No charges have yet been filed against Goss for attempting to disarm the Correctional Officer in the sally port.
