5th defendant pleads guilty in store robbery

Attorneys recommended a 10-year prison term for a robber.

YOUNGSTOWN — The last of five defendants in a March 30, 2004, robbery, in which an East Side convenience store owner was shot in the mouth, has pleaded guilty as charged and will be sentenced at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Isael Roman III, 20, of Rosewood Avenue, pleaded guilty Monday to attempted aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping with a firearm specification. Roman entered his plea before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on the day his jury trial was set to begin on those charges.

The prosecution and defense agreed to recommend a nonappealable 10-year prison term.

Four co-defendants had earlier pleaded guilty in this case.

The recommended sentence for Roman is the same as the one Judge Krichbaum imposed last year on co-defendants Montrell D. Sims, 20, of South Truesdale Avenue, and Ronald Lee Robinson, 21, of Berkley Avenue, who pleaded guilty to the same charges.

Also last year, Judge Krichbaum sentenced Christian Little, 20, of Oak Street, who cooperated with prosecutors, to 30 days in jail, followed by five years’ probation, for conspiracy to commit robbery.

Phillip J. Austin, 24, of Rosewood Avenue, received an eight-year prison term for aggravated robbery and felonious assault with gun specifications in 2005 from Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The charges in this case pertain to the robbery and shooting of Jihad Mahd, owner of the Big Apple Market on McGuffey Road, and to the detention of the owner’s son, Mohammed Mahd, who the prosecution said was held in a seated position with an aluminum baseball bat to keep him from coming to his father’s defense.

The robbers took cigarettes and cash from the store. All of the defendants, except Austin, were juveniles when the robbery occurred. Police reports are unclear as to which of the robbers fired the shot that injured the store owner.