This fall, 21-year-old Sergey Lebedev, a Russian-born college student whose parents live in Mount Washington, was convicted of plotting the robbery of an Owings Mills acquaintance, a crime that ended with the execution-style shooting of 20- year-old Dimas Rodriguez.

On Monday, Lebedev was sentenced to 40 years in prison on felony murder, robbery and gun charges. That same day, a Baltimore County jury convicted one of his former Pikesville High School friends, 23-year-old Steven Bernard Parker, of murder. A third defendant, Irvin Patrick Browne, also known as E-Dog, is to be tried early next year.

The February shooting surprised investigators and prosecutors unaccustomed to that type of violence in Owings Mills. It also stunned Rodriguez's Baltimore County friends, who have crammed the courthouse's hallways and courtrooms to testify or simply watch the trials.

"It's atypical," Assistant State's Attorney Daniel Trimble said of the shooting. "It's atypical of Baltimore County."

On the evening of Feb. 26, Rodriguez, his roommates and two other friends were studying and watching television in his apartment on Owings Heights Circle.

About 8:30 p.m., police said, two men wearing hoods and masks pushed their way into the home, threw a bullet on the table and pistol-whipped two of the men. The intruders took the cell phones and watches, herded the three into the bedroom, screamed at Rodriguez for money and asked about a safe.

After Rodriguez opened a safe in his closet, his friends said, the intruders started beating him, asking for more money. Then, inside the closet, one of the men fired a single shot through Rodriguez's back.

"After they shot him, I was in such shock," Jared Cohen, 20, a close friend of Rodriguez's who was at his apartment that night, testified at Lebedev's trial.

The two men, who prosecutors say were Parker and Browne, ran to a waiting car, which police say was driven by Lebedev.

It wasn't the first time the Mount Washington man had robbed a "friend," according to court testimony.

In March last year, Lebedev had forced his way into Eric Kessler's apartment with two other men and ransacked the place, Kessler testified this week. Lebedev was charged but never prosecuted because he agreed to pay restitution.

After the February shooting, police tracked cell phone records and spoke with informants - some of whom had dubious backgrounds - who said Lebedev had been asking people to help him rob Rodriguez. Within the week, the police had charged Lebedev, Parker and Browne with murder.

But Parker's attorney, Kenneth W. Ravenell, called the state's evidence against his client shockingly insufficient, and said he is going to ask the judge to throw out the verdict and grant a new trial.