By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 21-year-old Alabaster man will spend the next few years in prison after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a victim during a 2013 robbery.

Justin Edward Catlin, who lists an address on 13^th Street Southwest in Alabaster, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree robbery during a July 6 hearing in front of Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves.

After accepting the guilty plea, Reeves originally sentenced Catlin to 20 years in prison, but split the sentence between four years in prison followed by three years of supervised probation. Catlin received 595 days of jail credit for time he has served in the Shelby County Jail since his 2013 arrest.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Catlin on Nov. 20, 2013, and charged him with felony counts of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and second-degree assault. Through a plea agreement, his burglary and assault charges were dismissed.

The arrest came a few days after Catlin assaulted a homeowner on Bare Tree Drive in Alabaster during a Nov. 16 robbery at about 1:05 p.m., Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney said previously. The victim in the case suffered non life-threatening injuries in the incident, and was treated and released from Shelby Baptist Medical Center.

According to police incident reports and Catlin’s arrest warrant, Catlin entered the victim’s residence armed with a pistol and stole a wallet containing about $325 and a cell phone from the victim.

After investigating the incident, Alabaster police located Catlin in Birmingham and arrested him on Nov. 20, 2013 Rigney said.

First-degree robbery is a Class A felony, and could have carried up to a lifetime prison sentence.