Judge gives Iowa City teen deferred judgment in armed robbery

IOWA CITY — A judge gave an Iowa City teen charged and convicted in adult court for armed robbery a deferred judgment and probation Friday in Johnson County District Court.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Paul Miller sentenced Tavarion Herron, now 18, to three years probation. If Herron completes probation without serious violations, the conviction could be expunged — removed — from his record. He was 17 when the robbery occurred.

Herron previously pleaded to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and going armed with intent. He was originally charged with first-degree robbery.

The two convictions carried up to 15 years in prison and if Herron has violations, a judge could revoke his probation and sentence him up to 15 years.

The prosecution asked the court to deny the deferred judgment and sentence Herron to prison.

Herron and another teen, Laron Gadlen Jr., 16, were both charged in the robbery, but Gadlen’s case was moved to juvenile court.

According to criminal complaints, police responded about 11 p.m. Dec. 21, 2021, to a robbery at GreenState Credit Union on the city’s west side.

A man was using the drive-thru ATM when Herron and Gadlen, both armed, approached him. One of the teens pointed a gun at the man’s head, according to the complaints, but he drove away unharmed.

People who knew Gadlen identified him through surveillance video of the robbery, the complaint stated.

Social media accounts showed Gadlen wearing the same clothes and having a firearm that matched the description — a black pistol with an extended magazine — around the same time of the robbery, according to a complaint.

Video footage also sowed Herron armed with a pistol, wearing a gray NASA sweatshirt. Herron was wearing the same sweatshirt when police obtained a search warrant for his residence, the complaint stated.

During a police interview, Herron admitted to being involved in the robbery but would not say what he did with the firearm.

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