NEWPORT — Two New Hampshire men pleaded guilty to their involvement in the shooting in the parking lot of Walmart in Claremont, where they had traveled last fall in a failed attempt to rob the man of marijuana.

Denzil Bruce, of Keene, and Xzavier Gilbeau, of Troy, have separately entered guilty pleas with prison sentences attached in Sullivan County Superior Court, according to state court records.

Their pleas follow that of a third accomplice, Emil Ortiz, also of Keene, who joined the robbery attempt and pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in Sullivan County House of Corrections earlier this year.

The pleas stem from an October 2022 incident in which the trio drove from Keene to Claremont to rob a 19-year-old man of marijuana and money as he was parked in a car in the Walmart lot. When the man fought back, the gun of one of the assailants discharged, wounding the victim in the leg before the group sped off and were caught by police a few miles away on Charlestown Road, according to court documents.

Bruce, 21, pleaded guilty on May 30 to first degree assault, conspiracy robbery, conspiracy criminal threatening and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, court records show. He was sentenced to 3½ to 7 years in state prison on the robbery and criminal conspiracy counts, to be served concurrently with a year off the minimum for participation in treatment services.

In addition, Bruce — who was holding the gun which discharged — received a 7½- to 15-year sentence on the first degree assault count and 3½ to 7 years on the reckless conduct with a deadly weapon count, to be served concurrently and both suspended for 10 years.

He is scheduled for a formal sentencing hearing on July 30, according to court records.

Gilbeau, 19, was sentenced to 12 months in Sullivan County House of Corrections on the conspiracy robbery count, to be followed consecutively by another 12-month jail sentence on the conspiracy criminal threatening count.

He received a 3½- to 7-year sentence in state prison on the accomplice reckless conduct count, all suspended for eight years.

Gilbeau waived a sentence review at this sentencing hearing on Tuesday, court records show.

Attorneys for Bruce and Gilbeau did not respond to messages for comment on Tuesday.

The effort by the three assailants — who also had two 15-year-old minors traveling along with them — to rob the victim in the Walmart parking lot went off the rails when the victim and Bruce, who had managed to get into the victim’s car, got into a struggle and Bruce’s handgun went off and a bullet struck the victim’s foot, the police affidavit described.

The victim, who was an acquaintance of Ortiz’s from high school, shoved Bruce out of the car and the driver gunned the motor and peeled out of the Walmart lot.

The assailants all got back into their car, and a short while later, they were pulled over by alerted Claremont Police on Charlestown Road.

Ortiz later explained to police that the robbery plan was an idea concocted by the group to “do something stupid to make money” by stealing from the people they were meeting, according to court records.

Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.