PLATTE COUNTY —A St. Joseph man who had been out of prison for less than four months has been convicted of felony stealing and armed criminal action, according to a media release from the Platte Co. Attorney's office.
Christopher Mejia, 43, was found guilty by a Platte County jury after a three-day trial last week.
At trial, prosecutors proved that in February 2021, Mejia held an 18-year-old victim at knifepoint and demanded his debit card and PIN number. Mejia threatened the victim, telling him, “Do you know who I am? Do you know what I’m about? I don’t play around.”
After the victim gave Mejia his debit card, Mejia handed it to an accomplice, who then used it at an ATM in Gladstone to withdraw $380 from the victim’s bank account.
That transaction was captured on the bank’s ATM camera and was played during the trial. Mejia continued to hold the victim at knifepoint until the accomplice returned with the money.
At the time of the incident, Mejia was on parole from the Missouri Department of Corrections on an attempted first degree robbery conviction.
Using a provision of Missouri law that allows prosecutors to enhance criminal penalties for repeat felony offenders, the county attorney successfully sought to have Mejia designated as a persistent felony offender. As a result, Mejia faces up to 10 years in prison on the stealing charge and a minimum of three years in prison for armed criminal action. Under Missouri law, those sentences must run consecutively to one another.
Mejia is set to be sentenced on June 2. He is currently being held in the Platte County jail.