LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man who prosecutors said planned a home invasion that led to the deaths of two people in Lincoln has been sentenced to between 40 and 52 years in prison.

Rubin J. Thomas, of Lincoln, was sentenced Thursday for robbery and burglary in the July 2019 home invasion.

Prosecutors alleged Thomas planned the break-in but was not in the house when 34-year-old Audra Craig was shot and killed.

After two men broke into the home, Craig fired one shot at one of them, 26-year-old Martae Green, before her gun malfunctioned and Green shot her, prosecutors said. Green later died of a gunshot wound.

Thomas was sentenced to 26 to 32 years after he pleaded no contest to a felony robbery charge and 14 to 20 years for burglary. The sentences will run consecutively, The Lincoln Journal Star reported.

 

Defense attorney John Jorgensen denied that Thomas planned the robbery.

Green’s brother, Charles Gresham III, has pleaded no contest to manslaughter, attempted robbery and use of a firearm. Two other men — Jesse T. Foster and Sylvester LeBlanc Jr. — agreed to plea deals on conspiracy charges.