JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 23-year-old Mt. Vernon man was sentenced Wednesday in Jefferson County Court to 21 years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to the December armed robbery of Times Square Liquors North.

Denzal Haynes pleaded guilty to Class X armed robbery with a firearm, which is punishable by between 6 and 30 years in prison.

Per his plea agreement Haynes was sentenced to 6 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, but because Haynes used a firearm in the commission of the robbery an additional 15-years was tacked on to his sentence.

Four other armed robbery charges against Haynes were dismissed per the  plea agreement. He had been charged in connection to two other robberies of Times Square Liquors, as well as robberies of Heights Finance on Dec. 16 and Jumpin’ Jimmy’s on Jan. 16.

The plea agreement requires him to cooperate with authorities in the prosecution of 26-year-old Thomas Rector related to the Jumpin’ Jimmy’s robbery. The Mt. Vernon Police Department Thursday has put out an appeal to the public for help in locating Rector.

Rector is wanted on a Jefferson County warrant charging him with two counts of armed robbery. Anyone with information about Rector’s location is asked to contact the Mt Vernon Police Department at 242-2131 or Jefferson County Crimestopppers at 242-8477. You may qualify for a cash reward.

A third man involved in the robberies, 26-year-old Steven Collier, entered into a similar agreement with prosecution last month in that he was sentenced to 14 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to the Times Square Liquors robbery and agreeing to assist with the prosecution of others.