After approximately nine hours of deliberations, Sebastian Tutt was found guilty by a jury Friday afternoon of aggravated armed robbery, menacing and theft.

Tutt, then 18 and his cousin Bryan Jim were arrested and charged with a March 31, 2011 robbery of the Cortez Giant store at 921 E. Main St., after a Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped to make a purchase and caught the two men exiting the store.

Tutt was accused of pointing a gun at the clerk and demanding money while Jim took some tobacco products from behind the counter.

A video recorded by security cameras was shown to the jury, as was Tutt’s videotaped confession, in which he said the robbery was his idea.

While the defense did not dispute the robbery or the defendant’s involvement, they argued Tutt was intoxicated and forced through intimidation into committing the robbery by Jim — who allegedly has beaten the defendant since childhood.

Representing Tutt, attorney John Moran argued the defendant initially took the blame for the robbery because he was afraid of retaliation from his cousin later. Moran showed the jury the shoe and hooded sweatshirt of Tutt’s 6-foot-8-inch cousin Jim.

“We recognize there are circumstances where unlawful behavior is justified,” Moran said. “Here is one of those circumstances.”

Prosecuting the case, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Hughes argued the story the defendant told to jurors about being forced to commit the robbery is a contradiction to his initial statement to police and is “pure fiction.”

“There is no doubt that this defendant did the crimes,” Hughes said. “The defendant is attempting to avoid it in five words: ‘Jim made me do it.’”

Jim was found guilty by a jury of aggravated armed robbery, menacing and theft. He was sentenced in November by District Judge Todd Plewe to 14 years in prison.

Tutt awaits sentencing scheduled for March 19.

Reach Reid Wright at reidw@cortezjournal.com