photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Prosecutor Cody Smith, from left, defendant William Pope and defense attorney Gary West leave Judge Stacey Donovan’s courtroom after Pope’s plea hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025.

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office cut a plea deal Wednesday with a man who was accused of trying to rob a woman at gunpoint at a liquor store, agreeing that there would be “no finding” that a firearm was used, dropping two other felony charges, not objecting to the man’s GPS monitor being removed in the months before he will be sentenced and recommending that he be given probation.

The plea agreement for the man, William Pope, was filed under seal, which is unusual, and Judge Stacey Donovan said it would remain that way until she gave an order to unseal it.

When the Journal-World asked Assistant DA Cody Smith why the plea agreement was sealed, he indicated that he would have to ask his supervisor before providing any information.

If the Journal-World had not been present at Wednesday’s hearing, little would be known about the outcome of Pope’s cases.

Pope, 44, was originally charged with attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated assault for a March 4 incident in which he allegedly donned a face covering and aggressively demanded money from a person at Buddy’s Liquor on West Sixth Street. In both charges, he was accused of brandishing a firearm. In a separate case from December 2024, he was accused of felony theft of a Trek bicycle worth more than $1,500.

On Wednesday, Pope pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated assault, and the other felony charges were dismissed. Smith said the state would agree to “no finding” that a gun was used.

A law in Kansas, known as Special Rule 1, presumes a prison sentence if a defendant uses a firearm in commission of a person felony. But prosecutors sometimes agree to the legal fiction that no gun was used as a bargaining tool in order to sidestep Special Rule 1.

In one recent case, the DA’s Office referred to a gun not as a firearm but as “an inherently dangerous item or object” to achieve the outcome that no gun was used.

Though the charging documents said the liquor store crimes were committed on March 4 of this year, Smith told the court that they were committed on Feb. 27.

Donovan did not schedule a sentencing hearing but will presumably do that when Pope returns to court for a status conference on Dec. 2. She warned Pope that as a convicted felon he will not be allowed to possess firearms. Donovan agreed to the defense request, unopposed by the state, to free Pope from GPS monitoring until his sentencing.

Pope faces a prison sentence of 27 to 31 months, if his criminal history score is what the parties believe it to be: a “B.” If it comes back on a presentence report as an “A,” the worst possible, he will face even more time. Donovan told Pope that she was not obliged to follow the state’s recommendation of probation for him.

This is a developing story.