Don’t wait until you’re 60 to quit crimes.

Territorial Judge Donald Luther made the comment to a young American man who was being sentenced Friday for an armed robbery downtown and a violent assault at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre (WCC).

Benjamin Harper, 21, had pleaded guilty to both offences.

The judge sentenced him to three years in jail for the robbery and eight months less a day for the assault, to be served consecutively.

With credit for time spent in custody, Harper will have two years less a day to serve at WCC.

The judge commented that too often, he sees career criminals who only decide to quit committing crimes once they’ve reached their 50s or 60s.

“What a useless life that is, bouncing in and out of jail,” he said.

“I hope you don’t fall in that category.”

In handing out the sentence, Luther followed a joint submission the Crown and defence had put to the court.

The armed robbery dates back to Feb. 24, 2015.

Crown prosecutor Eric Marcoux read an agreed statement of facts to the court detailing the day’s events.

At around 5 p.m. that day, Harper and James Graham entered Kustom Phone Repairs on Elliott Street, the first armed with a machete and the second with a baton.

They threatened the shop owner, two employees, including one who was visibly pregnant, and a customer.

When the owner handed out the cash he had, Harper told Graham to punch him, which he did, because he didn’t believe that was the only cash the owner had.

They left with $310 and an iPhone.

A witness told police he saw them flee in a Chrysler car.

But the house the two men returned to was under surveillance by the police after a drive-by shooting that occurred in the Yukon Inn parking lot on Feb. 20, 2015, injuring a young woman.

As the two men left with a group in a Jeep, police arrested them.

They recovered a small axe, rubber masks, some cocaine, a machete and a key for a Chrysler vehicle.

Harper also had $2,000 on him.

The second offence happened on April 17, 2015.

Harper, Robert Gilbert and Joshua Saskiw burst out of their cells at around 9:45 that night to beat up another inmate, according to a second agreed statement of facts.

The three men punched and kicked Jeffery Redick, some using a weighted sock.

The victim was part of a rival gang, the court heard.

Redick’s injuries required stitches, Marcoux told the judge.

“It was caught on video; the victim didn’t have time to fight back,” Marcoux said.

Saskiw received a 12-month sentence while Gilbert was given a nine-month sentence for the assault.

“He came to Whitehorse as a result of wrong choices,” his lawyer, Vincent Larochelle, told the court.

Harper, originally from Mississippi, moved to Canada six years ago with his family.

He lived in Edmonton before moving to the Yukon.

Larochelle emphasized his client’s willingness to learn, and the fact he took responsibility for the crimes he committed.

Addressing the court, the 21-year-old apologized and told the judge he was taking “full responsibility” for his actions.

He is enrolled in several courses at Yukon College through the jail, and has earned good grades in several classes.

He also took part in counselling and programming offered at WCC.

Harper wants to pursue a degree in kinesiology once he is released.

This is his first adult conviction, his lawyer said.

Larochelle asked the judge to follow the joint submission, especially because of his client’s legal status in Canada.

A sentence in a federal penitentiary, over two years, could see the man’s permanent residency be revoked.

The judge imposed a three-year probationary period but told Harper the conditions attached to it could be transfered to Alberta, where his family lives.

Harper also has pending charges in Alberta.

Of the $2,000 seized, the judge agreed that $1,450 should be returned to Harper.