Three men get prison in robbery, shooting at store

Isael Roman III has been identified as the trigger man.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Three young men involved in a robbery and shooting at an East Side convenience store two years ago have been sentenced to prison terms.
All three appeared Tuesday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty as charged in January.
Montrell D. Sims, Isael Roman III and Ronald Lee Robinson were accused of robbing the Big Apple Supermarket on McGuffey Road of cash and cigarettes in March 2004 and shooting the store owner, Jihad Mahd, in the face and arm. Jihad Mahd survived. His son, Mohammed Mahd, was kidnapped and threatened with a baseball bat.
Jihad Mahd closed the store after the shooting, according to prosecutors.
The sentences
Sims, 18, of South Truesdale Avenue, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He received concurrent seven-year terms for attempted aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping, plus three years for firearm specifications.
Roman, 18, of Rosewood Avenue, was sentenced to 18 years in prison -- five years each for attempted aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping and three years for firearm specifications, all to be served consecutively. Prosecutors believe Roman was the one who shot Jihad Mahd.
Robinson, 19, of Berkley Avenue, received a 10-year prison sentence. His four-year term for attempted aggravated murder is concurrent with a three-year term for aggravated robbery, but three-year terms for kidnapping and firearm specifications are consecutive.
A fourth defendant, Philip J. Austin, 22, of Rosewood Avenue, already is serving an eight-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery and felonious assault with firearm specifications.
shaulis@vindy.com