Assistant prosecutor wants robber to be given 13 years

Saturday, August 26, 2006 The robber faces a minimum term of six years in prison. By PETER H. MILLIKEN VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER YOUNGSTOWN — An assistant Mahoning County prosecutor is recommending a maximum prison sentence of 13 years for a man convicted of robbing a West Side convenience store at gunpoint. After a weeklong jury trial, Thomas J. Mitchell, 34, of West Ravenwood Avenue, was convicted late Friday of aggravated robbery with a gun specification in the April 29 robbery of the Circle K on Mahoning Avenue. He was acquitted of felonious assault with a firearm on a retired deputy sheriff. After deliberating for 21/2 hours, the nine-man, three-woman jury returned its verdicts before Judge John M. Durkin in common pleas court. Five deputy sheriffs stood guard in the courtroom as the judge read the verdicts. The judge did not set a sentencing date. Martin Desmond, an assistant county prosecutor, said he'll ask Judge Durkin to sentence Mitchell to 10 years in prison for the robbery, plus three years for the gun specification. The minimum sentence would be three years for the robbery, plus the mandatory three years for the gun specification. What happened The 62-year-old retired deputy, Walter Charko, saw a robber pointing a pistol at a store clerk as he approached the store at about 2 a.m., police said. The deputy returned to his vehicle for his handgun and confronted the robber in the parking lot, police said. As the robber ran from the store with money, he fired a shot at Charko, who returned fire, hitting the robber in the right arm, police reports said. The deputy was not hit by any gunfire. Police said they found and arrested Mitchell about 41/2 hours later on Idlewood Avenue with a bullet graze on his right forearm. Prosecution witnesses included five police officers, Charko and the store clerk and manager. The defense did not call any witnesses to the stand. The acquittal on the felonious-assault charge may have resulted from most witnesses' reporting they heard only one gunshot — the one fired by Charko, Desmond surmised. Appeal planned Defense lawyer Dennis DiMartino said an appeal will be filed, and one of the grounds for the appeal will be that Mitchell, who has been jailed since April 29, didn't get a speedy trial. With limited exceptions, state law says a defendant who is in jail must come to trial within 90 days of his arrest. Mitchell has been in the penitentiary 14 of the last 16 years, Desmond said. He was convicted of aggravated robbery and receiving stolen property in 1990 and served about 10 years in prison. After being released in 2000, he was convicted of fleeing police and served four years in prison for that offense. milliken@vindy.com