By Neal Putnam
The Alpine Sun

     EL CAJON — An East County man whose murder conviction was overturned in the slaying of El Cajon Speedway owner Steven Brucker has pleaded guilty to committing armed residential robbery.
     A sentence of 29 years in prison is expected to be given to Apollo Ryan Huhn, 26, when he is sentenced on Sept. 26 by El Cajon Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos.
     Huhn admitted to using a firearm during the attempted robbery of Brucker, who was shot in the chest by another man who is currently on death row.
     Huhn was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and originally sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2005. But the 4th District Court of Appeals overturned the conviction because a juror improperly talked about the case with someone else during deliberations.
     The settlement means Huhn will go back to prison without having a new trial and he will eventually be paroled from the state’s Department of Corrections. Huhn remains in county jail without bail.
     Deputy District Attorney Glenn McAllister said the robbery conviction with the armed allegation will add up to 29 years in consecutive sentencing.
     The convicted gunman, Eric “Stressed Eric” Anderson, remains on death row after a separate jury recommended he be executed for the April 14, 2003, murder. All death penalty convictions are automatically appealed to the California Supreme Court, and his appeal has not yet been heard.
     Huhn’s role in the crime was to get to a safe in Brucker’s house in El Cajon where he and Anderson thought there would be money. But Anderson apparently panicked and shot Brucker after he answered the door and told them to leave. They fled with nothing.
     A third man, who acted as a lookout, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and is serving a 17-year sentence in prison. Brucker called 911 and tried to describe the robbers to police before he died.