Cobb County District Attorney Flynn D. Broady, Jr. announced in a public information release that William Antonio Ellis has been re-sentenced in Cobb Superior Court to 20 years in prison, and his first offender sentence was revoked for a robbery that occurred in 2013.
In 2013 Ellis was given a reduced sentence for robbery when he entered a guilty plea under the First Offender Act. During that robbery Ellis held a pistol to the victim’s head to steal an iPhone.
At that time he was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by eight years of probation. He was released on parole in 2018, but went on a felony spree that included trafficking methamphetamine, possession of firearm by convicted felon and obstruction in DeKalb County, GA; aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony in Johnson County, TN; and possession of firearm by convicted felon in Mecklenburg County, NC.
After hearing from arresting officers from three different states, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Sonja N. Brown revoked the first offender status and re-sentenced Ellis to the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Assistant District Attorney Jason D. Treadaway prosecuted the case.
The public information release from the District Attorney’s office described Ellis’s original crime in Cobb County as follows:
“The original case occurred on April 22, 2013. Ellis and a juvenile victim agreed to meet and exchange an iPhone for $200.
“The two communicated through a Facebook buying/selling page and text messages and agreed to meet outside Ellis’ neighborhood, Signal Hill in West Cobb County.
“The victim and his brother waited for Ellis and, when he arrived, he produced a semi-automatic handgun and placed it to the victim’s head.
“Ellis fled after obtaining the iPhone and was later arrested after boasting on social media about having committed the robbery.”
