A 21-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man Thursday pleaded no contest in connection with a 2008 west Lawrence robbery.

John T. Words entered the pleas to robbery and aggravated assault as prosecutors accuse him of aiding and abetting the crime. He had been ordered to face a trial on charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and misdemeanor theft after his cousin, Loren Thibodo, testified in December that Words and others were involved in the Dec. 3, 2008, robbery of an alleged drug dealer in the 3400 block of Augusta Drive.

Assistant District Attorney Eve Kemple said Words had agreed to give an interview to police about one suspect who investigators have not been able to identify. She said Words also has agreed to testify against other co-defendants in the case. Christopher J. Jackson, 22, still faces the original charges that Words had faced. Kemple said attorneys expect Words’ to face a four-year prison sentence, but based on his past criminal history he might fall within a “border box” under state guidelines where a judge could decide between prison or probation.

Defense attorney Craig Stancliffe said he planned to ask for a probation sentence, while Kemple said prosecutors agreed to stand silent on that request.

Thibodo, 27, who has received probation in the case in exchange for his testimony, has said he heard Jackson say that night he held a gun to a woman’s head during the robbery. Stancliffe said in court Thursday his client was in another room during that part of the robbery and unaware that Jackson even had a “BB pistol.”

District Judge Kay Huff is scheduled to sentence Words in April.