Judge gives man probation in stabbing

By Ed Runyan

‘If you let me down, you’ll never see the outside of a prison,’ the judge said.

YOUNGSTOWN — A 53-year-old city man went to court Wednesday thinking he was probably going to prison for the next seven years for stabbing a former house mate 16 times last July.

Instead, Thomas C. Carter, 53, of Gerwig Avenue, Youngstown, got five years of probation and was ordered to report to the Community Corrections Association for treatment of substance abuse problems.

Saying he was “taking a big chance” by declining to send Carter to prison, Judge Timothy Franken of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court warned Carter that if he commits even a relatively minor crime during his probation, a judge will be able to send him to prison for 18 years — the eight years he could have gotten for the felonious assault and 10 more for being a repeat violent offender.

“If you let me down, you’ll never see the outside of a prison,” Judge Franken said.

During his sentencing hearing, Carter and his attorney, Michael L. Gollings, said Carter has volunteered in a variety of organizations in the area, including a youth football league in the city.

“I truly believe this was an isolated incident. He has done a lot of volunteer work in the community,” Gollings told Judge Franken.

Carter said he had known Charles Robinson, 38, for several years and allowed Robinson to stay at Carter’s house. But the two got into an argument over whether Robinson had paid Carter his rent payment, said Steven Shandor, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor.

That led to Carter stabbing Robinson with a small knife he was using to trim his toenails, Carter told Judge Franken. Robinson, who declined to attend the sentencing hearing, spent a couple days in the hospital for the injuries.

“Things got out of hand,” Carter said, adding that he has substance abuse problems.

“I don’t feel he [Carter] was the initial aggressor,” Gollings said. Carter added that he used the knife in self-defense.

More importantly, Carter had virtually no criminal record dating back to a conviction in 1980 for committing an aggravated robbery, Gollings said.

Gollings added that he thinks the only reason Carter was charged with a crime was that he fled the area after the stabbing, finally getting arrested in Columbus several months later.

Carter agreed in February to plead guilty to felonious assault, a second-degree felony punishable by two to eight years in prison. The prosecution agreed to drop an attempted-murder charge that carried a possible sentence of three to 10 years.

Prosecutors agreed to recommend a seven-year prison term.

runyan@vindy.com