SKOWHEGAN — A Skowhegan man convicted of robbing a Madison convenience store in 2023 is set to serve four fewer years in prison after a successful appeal earlier this year.

Raymond Ellis Jr., 36, was sentenced Tuesday to 22 years in prison, with all but 16 years suspended, and four years of probation.

Chief Justice Robert E. Mullen imposed the slightly reduced sentence during a hearing at the Somerset County Superior Court in Skowhegan.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court had vacated Ellis’ initial, longer sentence — 25 years in prison, with all but 20 years suspended, and four years of probation — in June.

In its decision, the law court affirmed Ellis’ convictions of Class A robbery, Class C criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, Class C possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and Class E theft by unauthorized taking following a two-day jury trial in June 2024.

But the panel of justices found that Mullen, who oversaw the trial and imposed the sentence, violated Ellis’ constitutional rights when he considered Ellis’ supposed lack of responsibility as an aggravating factor in determining the sentence.

Under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as well as the Maine Constitution, a defendant has a right to not testify at trial. A defendant may not be punished for exercising that right, the court’s ruling said. A lack of remorse or responsibility could only be considered an aggravating factor at sentencing if a defendant did testify at trial or address the court and there was at that point evidence of a lack of remorse or responsibility.

In court Tuesday, Mullen said he reviewed records and transcripts from the trial and sentencing, and while he understood why the law court thought he considered Ellis’ supposed failure to take responsibility, he did not intend to do so.

“I will say, to my dying day, that I don’t punish people for having trials,” Mullen said. “And I don’t punish people for not testifying at trials. It’s their constitutional right.”

Nevertheless, Mullen said the first sentence he imposed had been deemed invalid, and he went through a standard sentencing analysis.

First Assistant District Attorney Timothy Snyder asked for the sentence Mullen previously imposed and relied on his previous arguments.

Ellis’ court-appointed attorney, Jennifer Cohen, asked for a sentence of 15 years in prison, with all but six years suspended, and four years of probation.

Cohen highlighted more technical aspects of the high court’s decision that would support a lesser sentence. She also said Ellis has been doing well in prison so far, having completed several courses and counseling programs, working as an orderly and getting ready to enroll at the University of Maine at Augusta.

One of Ellis’ children, who is 15, is homeless, Cohen said, and Ellis’ mother is suffering from health issues, including Parkinson’s disease. She said Ellis was concerned he would not be able to support his family from prison.

Ellis, wearing blue jail clothing and shackled, chose not to speak in court.

Mullen, in weighing the various factors in his analysis, found that the aggravating factors still outweighed the mitigating factors. He found Ellis’ previous criminal record, which includes seven felony convictions and a 10-year federal prison sentence, to be one of the most pertinent aggravating factors.

“You committed some very serious offenses, and I think those call for serious sentences, which I believe I’ve given you,” Mullen told Ellis as he concluded.

Mullen also said he was sorry about Ellis’ family situation and hoped he will be successful after being released from prison.

Ellis can appeal the new sentence, although he cannot appeal the convictions, as the law court affirmed them in its June decision.

Ellis could be required to serve the suspended prison time if he violates the terms of his probation. Conditions are that he not use or possess illegal drugs, firearms and dangerous weapons, and must submit to random search for those items.

The case stemmed from the Aug. 5, 2023, robbery of the Big Apple store on Old Point Avenue in Madison. Ellis was charged in December 2023.

During his trial in Skowhegan, prosecutors presented evidence that Ellis and two teenagers robbed the store, taking $295, seven packs of cigarettes, two Mountain Dew sodas, and the store clerk’s wallet.

Prosecutors, in part, relied on testimony from the two others who participated in the robbery with Ellis. The two were also charged for their respective roles but agreed to reduced sentences in exchange for testifying at Ellis’ trial.

Detective David Cole of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, the lead investigator of the case, testified that a sawed-off shotgun seized from Ellis’ vehicle after a lengthy police chase in downtown Skowhegan on Nov. 8, 2023, matched the description of one of two guns used in the robbery.

The police chase, which started when Cole tried to execute a drug search warrant, was not mentioned explicitly during Ellis’ trial.

Ellis separately pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from that incident in August 2024. His prison sentence of eight years was set to run concurrent to the longer sentence in the robbery case.