Accomplice in gas station murder sentenced to 18 months

A man charged with being an accomplice in the murder of a teenage gas station clerk in St-Lonard, Que., will serve 18 months in the community.

Jol Nantais, 19, was sentenced Monday to a year-and-a-half term to be served in a halfway house. He pleaded guilty to reduced armed robbery charges and being an accomplice after the fact.

Nantais admitted he participated in the planning of the gas station robbery that left 17-year-old Brigitte Serre dead, but he maintained he had nothing to do with her murder.

Serre was found stabbed to death inside the station in St-Lonard, a northeastern suburb of Montreal, on the night of Jan. 24, 2006. She had been working an overnight shift alone.

Nantais drove a car to the station that night and waited while Sbastien Simon and Tommy Gagn robbed the station store.

He accepted reduced armed robbery charges in exchange for testifying against Simon and Gagn at their trials, scheduled to start in September 2007.

Quebec court Judge Elisabeth Corte ordered Nantais to undergo therapy and drug rehabilitation.