Man Who Robbed Smyrna Restaurant Receives His Sentence

Photo Credit: Cobb County Sheriff’s Office

A Smyrna man who robbed a restaurant just outside the city limits in early 2014 will have the rest of his life to think about his crime while he’s behind bars, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Joel Easley, 31, was convicted by a Cobb County jury on Wednesday of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault for his robbery of a Firehouse Subs on Feb. 17, 2014. Chief Judge Stephen Schuster sentenced Easley to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.

On the day of the robbery, Easley walked into the restaurant at 4624 Camp Highland Road asking for free food. An employee who had given him free food in the past told Easley he could not give away food this time, but encouraged him to apply to work at the restaurant.

An hour later, Easley came back to the restaurant dressed in all black, wearing a bandanna, and carrying a knife. He grabbed the employee from behind, held a knife to his throat, and demanded money from the register. Easley got away with $255.

According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Easley robbed the Little Caesar’s on Spring Road of $250 the day after he robbed Firehouse Subs.

“Mr. Easley rejected a young man’s kindness and instead used violence to take what was not his, terrifying hardworking employees and innocent families in the process,” ADA Theresa Schiefer said in court, the DA’s Office reported.

Easley was arrested on April 8 and has been held without bond since that date, Cobb County jail records show.