Man going to prison 8 years for robbery

An accomplice, who earlier pleaded guilty, is serving four years in prison.

YOUNGSTOWN — A man who was convicted by a jury last week of aggravated robbery with a gun specification has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court imposed the sentence Tuesday on William A. Freeman, 30, of Quinn Street. The prison term consists of five years for the aggravated robbery plus a mandatory consecutive three years for the gun specification.

A co-defendant, Hector Perez, 30, of Donation Street, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery with a gun specification, and Judge Durkin sentenced him to four years in prison in February. That sentence consisted of three years for the aggravated robbery, plus one consecutive year for the gun specification, which was reduced from three years to one year in the plea agreement.

Perez and Freeman were charged with trying to rob a Struthers man Oct. 2, 2007, in the 1600 block of Shehy Street. The victim told police he went to a Shehy Street apartment with Perez to drink beer.

After the victim went outside and sat in his car, Perez and Freeman tried to rob him, the victim told police. Perez fired a shotgun in the air, and Freeman waved a knife around, the victim said, adding that the shotgun broke off at the stock as he and Perez struggled over it.

Even though the victim said Freeman wielded only a knife, the gun specification applied to Freeman because his accomplice in crime used a gun, said Meghan Brundege, assistant county prosecutor.

Police, who arrested Perez at the scene, found under a mattress a shotgun that had been stolen in Beaver Township in August 2007.