COMMON PLEAS COURT Man pleads guilty to felonies

He made a last-minute decision to accept a plea deal.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Prosecution and defense attorneys will recommend a 7 1/2 year prison sentence for Christopher Aczel of Beaver Township, who in a five-month span broke into several pharmacies, led police on a two-county chase and escaped house arrest.
Jury selection was to begin Monday for Aczel's trial. Instead, Aczel pleaded guilty to 22 felony charges before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court
One of two indictments against Aczel was amended to drop three counts of felonious assault on a police officer and one count of illegal cultivation of drugs.
Aczel then pleaded to the remaining charges: three counts of breaking and entering; three counts of theft of drugs; four counts of drug possession; one count each of receiving stolen property, possession of criminal tools, failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, aggravated robbery and escape; and seven counts of trafficking in drugs.
The maximum prison sentence is 41 years on the drug trafficking charges and 48 years on the other charges combined, Judge Sweeney said.
Quiet responses
Aczel, who was dressed in a dark suit, was quiet and brief in his responses to Judge Sweeney.
Aczel was offered a plea agreement Jan. 23 but didn't accept it until Monday, said Robert Duffrin, assistant county prosecutor.
Defense Atty. Ted Macejko objected to Atty. Duffrin's petition that Aczel should forfeit his vehicle, a 1995 Jeep Cherokee. Judge Sweeney said she will address the matter when Aczel is sentenced at a later date.
Aczel, 33, of West Calla Road, was wanted for breaking into pharmacies and stealing antidepressant and antibiotic drugs. Aczel led police July 12 on a chase from Mahoning to Portage County, during which the Jeep he was driving struck an unmarked cruiser containing three officers at Tippecanoe Road and U.S. Route 62 in Canfield. Officers had tried to serve a search warrant on Aczel, who pulled over before speeding away. Aczel abandoned the vehicle in a wooded area in Portage County and fled on foot, surrendering to authorities a few days later.
Aczel was first held on $1 million bond. Macejko argued that Aczel wasn't a flight risk, so Judge Sweeney set bond at $250,000. Aczel's parents paid $25,000 of the bond so that he could be on house arrest. Aczel cut his electronic monitor, however, and left his mother's house. He has been held without bond ever since he returned to police custody.
shaulis@vindy.com