Criminal history brings longer prison sentence

YOUNGSTOWN

Despite a plea agreement for probation, LeeVaughn Toney, father of a man accused in a high-profile murder, will spend the next year and a half behind bars for burglary.

Toney, 51, of Winona Drive, appeared Friday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for sentencing on burglary, a felony of the fourth degree. Toney had originally been charged with a second-degree felony, but entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors wherein he pleaded guilty to the reduced charge and prosecutors recommended he receive probation.

Judge Krichbaum said he, as a judge, could not justify probation for someone with Toney’s lengthy criminal history. He then handed down an 18-month sentence — the maximum for a fourth-degree felony.

For more on this story see Saturday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.