Man gets 18 years for shooting

The cabdriver almost lost his life, judge says.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man who shot a taxi driver in the neck in a January 2005 robbery attempt is going to prison for 18 years.
Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court imposed the sentence Tuesday on Hubert Floyd Jr., 43, of Bennington Avenue, who had pleaded guilty as charged a day earlier as his trial was about to begin.
Floyd was charged with the nonfatal shooting of cabdriver Julio Rivera, 37, of Early Road, on the city's East Side, after Rivera had picked him up as a passenger. Floyd, who apologized in court, will serve 10 years for attempted murder, five years for aggravated robbery and three years for the gun specification, consecutively for a total of 18 years.
Five-year sentences for a repeat violent offender specification and being a felon in possession of a firearm will be served simultaneously with the attempted murder and robbery terms. "This is a tragic case in that someone almost lost his life," Judge Durkin said. Rivera was not present to make a victim impact statement.
Mental-health issues
Defense lawyer James Gentile said Floyd has been plagued by mental illness, which Gentile said likely caused Floyd to attack Rivera, and the judge said he was certain Floyd suffers from mental-health problems.
The judge noted that Northcoast Behavioral Health Center at first found Floyd incompetent to stand trial, but a year later found that mental-health treatment had restored him to competency, meaning he was capable of assisting in his own defense.