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City man pleads guilty to robbery
The man was told to be a model prisoner if he expects the court to agree to a plea bargain.
YOUNGSTOWN — A city man could get up to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to using broken asphalt in an attempt to rob another man.
Edmund J. Tapscott, 20, of Clyde Street, pleaded guilty to felony robbery Tuesday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. He will be sentenced after a presentence investigation.
In exchange for Tapscott’s pleading guilty to the charge, prosecutors have recommended a three-year prison sentence.
The sheriff’s department also has agreed not to press charges for some of Tapscott’s activities while incarcerated in the county jail.
Judge Krichbaum does not have to follow any sentencing recommendation.
He could sentence Tapscott to probation or up to eight years in prison.
According to J. Michael Thompson, an assistant county prosecutor, Tapscott was outside the Subway Restaurant on Rayen Avenue on the North Side on Nov. 2 and attempted to rob a man he knew using broken pieces of asphalt. The man was able to escape.
Tapscott was arrested by Youngstown State University police and Youngstown police.
Thompson said Tapscott also has been less than a model prisoner in the county jail, throwing urine at deputies and breaking faucet heads.
He said that Tapscott also has had to be forcibly removed from his cell at least once.
Judge Krichbaum told Tapscott he should become a model prisoner until his sentencing if he expects the court to follow any sentencing recommendation.
jgoodwin@ivndy.com