By Vicky Wedig
SLN Staff
A Glendale man – one of four charged in connection with a Town of Troy shooting and robbery in 2014 – is scheduled for another status conference Aug. 18.
Michael R. Kraft, 36, known as “White Boy Mike,” appeared in Walworth County Circuit Court in custody June 8 – his third status conference since Feb. 10.
Kraft was expected to testify against two of his co-actors, Jeremy L. Thomas, 29, of Milwaukee, and Jacob A. Curler, 36, of East Troy, and reach a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office.
Thomas’ trial ended May 25 with a guilty verdict on charges of armed robbery, first-degree reckless injury, false imprisonment and substantial battery, all as a party to a crime. He faces up to 74 ½ years in prison and $120,000 in fines and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 6.
Curler is scheduled for a final pre-trial conference July 27 and a five-day jury trial beginning Aug. 7.
Drevon A. Grant, 21, of Milwaukee, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced in December 2015 to 15 years in prison and seven years extended supervision. Charges of first-degree reckless injury, substantial battery and false imprisonment against him were dismissed. He is incarcerated at the Green Bay Correctional Institution with release scheduled for 2030.
The four men were charged in connection with an October 2014 robbery in which a woman was shot and a man beaten in an apartment at Barley’s Hops and Malt in the Town of Troy.
According to the criminal complaints, three men entered an apartment on Oct. 20, 2014, and injured the residents.
A detective spoke with one of the residents, Afrim Lika, at the hospital. Lika was bruised and required several stitches to close a cut above his eye and a cut on his head behind his right ear, according to the complaint.
Lika told the detective he went to bed around 10:30 p.m. or 10:45 p.m. and was in his bedroom when two men allegedly entered the room with guns.
Lika said he kicked the skinny robber in the arm and fought with him and then the second man. He said the skinnier man told the other man to tie up Lika’s wife, Altije Fejza, and Lika fought with both men, according to the complaint.
Lika said as he fought with the three men, Fejza helped to stop the men from hitting Lika, and one of the men shot her in the leg, according to the complaint. A bullet entered Fejza’s thigh and exited her right calf, according to the complaint.
Grant allegedly told an informant that he shot Altije Fejza, and the informant identified Grant in a photo lineup. Grant admitted participating in the robbery and said he saw the other robbers fight with Lika and saw one of the other robbers shoot Altije Fejza, according to the complaint.
Grant told police one of the other robbers was known as “White Boy Mike,” who was later identified as Kraft. When Kraft was arrested, he told a detective he was “probably going away for a long time for this,” according to the criminal complaint. During an interview with the detective, Kraft allegedly acknowledged Curler was one of the robbers and said Curler anticipated getting $30,000 to $50,000 from the robbery.
