Olathe teen sentenced for setting up $8 Xanax deal that led to fatal shooting
A 17-year-old will spend more than four years in a juvenile corrections facility and faces the possibility of 10 years in adult prison for his role in setting up an $8 Xanax deal that led to the shooting death of another teen in Olathe last year.
Rolland Kobelo was sentenced Thursday to the Kansas Juvenile Corrections facility until six months after he turns 22 years old.
He was also sentenced to 10 years in adult prison following his juvenile sentence. The adult sentence was stayed by a Johnson County judge on the condition that Kobelo successfully completes his time in the juvenile system.
Both sentences were for two amended charges of aggravated robbery and distribution of Xanax, which Kobelo pleaded guilty to in November.
Kobelo was initially charged with felony murder in the killing of 17-year-old Rowan Padgett, who was found shot about 5 p.m. March 29 in the driveway of a home in the 12300 block of South Mullen Court. The drug deal fell through before the shooting. Prosecutors say Padgett was shot by the would-be buyer, 19-year-old Matthew Lee Bibee Jr., outside the home of Jordan Denny, who was 16.
Kobelo was accused of helping to set up the drug deal that lead to Padgett’s death and telling Bibee to rob Padgett.
Statements in court
In a statement to the court Wednesday, Padgett’s mother, Semie Rogers, said there is “no way to truly convey” the impact of her son’s death.
She expressed sorrow over the loss of her son and everything he could become and recounted the grief her family has endured in the months since the shooting.
“I miss so much that person in my life, however flawed he was,” Rogers said.
She said she hoped Kobelo would use his time in the juvenile detention center and beyond to become a better person and make good choices.
“I’m sure Rolland didn’t mean for Rowan to be killed, but his actions led to his death,” Rogers said. “He has that life, that life that Rowan no longer has.”
Kobelo declined to give a statement to the court but his attorney, Brian Paden, spoke on his behalf. He said Kobelo was sorry for Padgett’s “unintended” death and the role he played in it.
“He will hopefully make the best of his time (in the Juvenile corrections facility),” Paden said.
Remaining defendants
The cases for Kobelo’s co-defendants, Bibee and Denny, are pending.
Bibee faces several charges, including capital murder and premeditated first-degree murder. Denny was charged with felony murder and obstruction of the legal process.
Felony murder is a doctrine that exists in 42 states, including Kansas and Missouri. It allows someone to be charged with murder if a death occurs while they are committing another inherently dangerous felony.
Johnson County District Attorney’s Steve Howe has said his office has filed a “major increase” of such cases in the last two years in response to a number of deadly drug ripoffs.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 11:53 AM.
