Not guilty plea by Mason City man accused of helping out in Clear Lake convenience store robbery

CLEAR LAKE — One of four people arrested in connection with the late January robbery of a Clear Lake convenience store has pleaded not guilty.

Clear Lake police last month as part of their ongoing investigation into the robbery of the Casey’s General Store at 202 US Highway 18 East on January 23rd arrested 26-year-old William Rogers of Mason City and charged him with being an accessory after the fact. A criminal complaint says Rogers picked up the robbery suspect in his vehicle and fled the scene, driving him to an address in Mason City. Rogers was also charged with two possession of a controlled substance violations.

Rogers filed written pleas of not guilty to the charges on Tuesday in Cerro Gordo County District Court, with his trial being set for June 21st. If convicted of all three charges, he would face up to four years in jail.

23-year-old Houston Conway of Britt pleaded not guilty to the robbery of the Clear Lake Casey’s as well as three other convenience stores in Mason City during the month of January and has his trial scheduled to start on April 5th.

25-year-old Alexa Cockrell of Britt is also facing a second-degree robbery charge in the Clear Lake robbery and is scheduled to be arraigned on March 29th.

27-year-old Dustin Nesje of Mason City was arrested earlier this week and charged with being an accessory after the fact, possession of methamphetamine and violation of parole. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 21st.