MAIL THEFT After 2 years, man wants to change plea

Robert Reed said fear of a longer prison sentence caused him to plead guilty.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An East Palestine man, imprisoned for stealing mail from the Canfield post office in 2001, has changed his mind about pleading guilty.
Robert J. Reed filed documents this week in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court asking Judge Maureen A. Cronin to allow him to withdraw his plea of guilty to engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, which he entered in February 2002.
In April 2002, Reed was sentenced to six years in prison.
Reed, 29, of East Clark Street, admitted reaching into a mail slot at the post office and pulling handfuls of mail from a mail bag.
Many of the pieces of mail contained checks or credit cards, which Reed used to make nearly $4,000 worth of purchases, mostly at Wal-Mart.
He originally faced 58 counts of theft, each a fourth-degree felony for which Reed could have gotten up to one year each in prison. Prosecutors instead rolled all the activity into one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a second-degree felony for which the maximum penalty is eight years.
Prosecutors recommended a two-year sentence in the plea agreement, but Judge Cronin sentenced Reed to six years. Ohio law does not require judges to follow lawyers' sentencing recommendations in plea agreements.
The request
In his request to withdraw his plea, Reed says his attorney, Brian Tarashawty, was not certified at the time to handle second-degree felony cases.
Reed says he was "motivated by fear" of a longer sentence and was under the influence of prescription drugs when he entered the plea.
Assistant Prosecutor Jay Macejko said both Judge Cronin and Reed knew at the time that Tarashawty was not certified for second-degree felony cases.
He said Reed acknowledged in court that he was satisfied with Tarashawty's work and waived any possible conflict that could arise from the lack of certification.
Tarashawty was appointed to represent Reed at taxpayers' expense because Reed could not afford to pay a lawyer.
When Tarashawty was appointed, prosecutors still intended to pursue the fourth-degree felony counts against Reed.
The problem arose when prosecutors offered the plea agreement, which included the second-degree felony. Rather than have a new lawyer appointed, Reed said he wanted to stick with Tarashawty, Macejko said.
He said the judge also asked whether Reed was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the plea hearing, and Reed said he was not. Such questions are required by law when pleas are entered.
"I just don't see his arguments having much merit, especially this far removed," Macejko said.
bjackson@vindy.com