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Burglary gets man 18-month sentence
YOUNGSTOWN
Despite a plea agreement for probation, LeeVaughn Toney, father of a man accused in a high-profile murder, will spend the next 18 months in prison for burglary.
Toney, 51, of Winona Drive, appeared Friday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for sentencing for burglary, a fourth-degree felony.
Toney originally had 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, however, he could not justify probation for someone with Toney’s lengthy criminal history. He then handed down an 18-month sentence — the maximum for the fourth-degree felony.
His son, Aubrey Toney, 29, is charged in the murder of Thomas Repchic and the wounding of Repchic’s wife, Jacqueline, on the city’s South Side in September.
Robert Bush, a former assistant county prosecutor, said at a previous court hearing that Toney may have taken the opportunity to burglarize the home of his niece shortly after his son purportedly shot the elderly couple. Bush said the niece’s SUV was used in the drive-by shooting, and the woman, who told authorities she had concerns about the safety of her immediate family, was placed into protective custody for a short period of time.
Bush said LeeVaughn Toney burglarized the home while the woman was in protective custody. He said a gaming system, clothes, an Apple iPod, paint sprayer, two lawn mowers and household items were taken in the burglary.
According to police, the niece received a call from Toney asking where she was and when she would be home on the day of the burglary.
J. Michael Thompson, an assistant county prosecutor, told the court Bush arranged the plea agreement with the understanding the niece did not want Toney to go to prison but instead receive treatment and apologize to her children.
Judge Krichbaum said it is nice the niece wants to give Toney a break, and he respects that decision, but he said Toney’s actions were not just against the woman and her children.
“A crime of burglary is a crime against the state,” Judge Krichbaum said. “Burglary is one of the worst things a person can do to another person. It just absolutely should not be tolerated.”
Atty. Mark Carfolo, representing Toney, said his client has made some bad choices, but Toney hopes to do positive things in the future. He said some of Toney’s problem stem from alcohol abuse, but he does know right from wrong.
Toney, when given the opportunity to address the court, said he would change his behavior if given probation.
“I know I have a past, and I can’t change that, but people do change,” he said. “Given a chance, I will go out there and do something I have never done before — be an adult.”
Judge Krichbaum read a criminal history for Toney starting in 1983 that, in part, includes arrest for drug abuse, receiving stolen property, robbery, felonious assault, breaking and entering, failure to comply and illegal possession of a weapon.
The judge said he was shocked the adult parole authority recommended probation.