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Man pleads guilty to role in fatal shooting in Colorado

Posted at 12:33 PM, Apr 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-14 14:33:46-04

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — An Ohio man has struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to his role in a fatal shooting in Colorado.

The Fort Collins Coloradoan reports Joshua Baker, of Cincinnati, pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated robbery and being an accessory to a crime. He faces between 20 and 32 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Baker was one of three Cincinnati men charged in the 2016 robbery and death of 20-year-old Devon Smeltz, of Fort Collins. Smeltz, who police say was a cocaine dealer, was found dead in a row of trees in a rural area east of Fort Collins.

Baker’s plea deal calls on him to testify at the trial of his co-defendants. If he refuses, the plea would be withdrawn.

Prosecutors say the three defendants traveled from Ohio to Colorado in August 2016.