Two Armstrong County men who last year fled the scene of an attempted robbery in Adams Township while their friend lay fatally, will serve time in state prison.

However, the two alleged drug dealers who were the targets of the robbery and also left the scene without calling the police, will not be punished, authorities say.

McKinley W. Berry, 25, of Ford City and Jacob M. Adams, 25, of Kittanning, were charged with murder of the second degree and other crimes for their role in an failed robbery and gunfight on the morning of Jan. 22, 2016 that left Jason T. McIntyre, of Kittanning dead.

The men they attempted to rob of drugs and money, Daniel C. Oliverio and Jeremy C. Hughes, acted in self-defense and were not charged with any crimes.

“They were justifiably defending themselves,” Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope said in an interview.

Before Adams and Berry were sentenced in county court Thursday morning, McIntyre’s mother Stacey Rybarik of Kittanning stated that she was unhappy with the case’s resolution.

“I don’t think my son is getting the justice he should,” Rybarik said. “Jeremy had drugs and drugs money and he’s not here. He’s getting away with it. I don’t understand it.”

A tearful Rybarik also directed several questions toward the two defendants before leaving the room.

“I just wanted to know what Jason’s last words were. Did they see him getting shot?” she said.

Berry and Adams on Jan. 24 pleaded guilty, after their attorneys negotiated a plea deal with the district attorney’s office that included dropping some of the most serious charges, including robbery, burglary and second-degree murder.

Adams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to commit theft.

Judge Timothy McCune Thursday sentenced Adams to 8 to 16 years in prison. He will get credit for 404 days of time served in county prison.

His charges and sentence were less severe because he stayed in the car during the shooting, Lope said.

Berry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.

He received a sentence of 17.5 to 27 years in prison, minus 405 days served in county prison. Each man will also be required to pay more than $12,000 restitution to the owner of the house and insurance company.

According to police documents, Berry, Adams and McIntyre in the early morning of Jan. 22 drove together to a house on Downieville Road to rob a pair of tenants at the house of marijuana and money.

The tenants, Oliverio and Hughes, and their friend Wade J. Brueckman of Connoquenessing Township were awake in the apartment when they arrived.

After hearing tapping on the window and a voice saying “open up,” Hughes and Oliverio looked outside and saw two men wearing dark hooded sweatshirts and holding guns.

They armed themselves with guns and took cover before the robbers burst into the apartment.

Brueckman hid in a bathtub during the incident.

A brief gunfight ensued in which Hughes suffered a “superficial” gunshot wound to his stomach. McIntyre was hit in the chest with a slug from a 12-gauge shotgun and died on the front steps of the house. Police believe Hughes fired the shot that killed McIntyre.

Oliverio and Hughes admitted to leaving the house without contacting police, though a neighbor had called 911 after hearing the shots.

Though they didn’t recognize them that night, the tenants knew the men from selling them marijuana on at least two prior occasions, Hughes said during a preliminary hearing last February.

The two defense attorneys each made a statement Thursday on behalf of their client.

Public defender Kimberly Hudak, who defended Adams, said he was remorseful.

“What the plea agreement doesn’t show is how truly sorry Mr. Adams is,” she said. “The person who died was a friend of Mr. Adams’ and even when his sentence is over he will have to live with that for the rest of his life.”

Joseph Kecskemethy, who defended Berry, said that the sentencing was not the time or place to make a response Rybarik’s questions, adding that their plea agreement was carefully crafted.

McCune noted that each man had a history of arrests, convictions and paroles in the county system and each owes thousands in fees and restitutions for their crimes.

Both had chances to change their ways before getting in even bigger trouble, he said.

“Your friend was killed and, frankly, I guess the situation was not completely unexpected when you get involved in these kinds of things,” he said before sentencing Berry.