Subway robber gets prison sentence

YOUNGSTOWN — The gunman who robbed the Subway sandwich shop on West Rayen Avenue near Youngstown State University on Oct. 23 has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Willie H. Anderson, 54, of North Bruce Street, was sentenced today by Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to seven years for the aggravated robbery, plus three years for the firearm specification, and she gave him a five-year sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm to be served during the robbery sentence. Anderson pleaded guilty Wednesday to those charges.

Anderson pointed a pistol at the Subway clerk, demanded money and grabbed $170 from the cash register the clerk had opened when Anderson ordered a sandwich.

“I’m truly sorry for it. I mean I regret this,” Anderson told the judge, adding that he has a drug abuse problem. His lawyer, Dennis DiMartino, said Anderson is a heroin addict, who robbed the store to obtain money to buy drugs.