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Indiana man draws 80-year sentence
YOUNGSTOWN
A 42-year-old Indiana man has been sentenced to 80 years in prison on rape, kidnapping, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery charges with repeat violent-offender specifications in a South Side home invasion that occurred more than seven years ago.
Sammie Smith Jr. drew the sentence Wednesday from Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who presided over last month’s trial, in which a jury convicted him.
Smith received the sentence after he told the judge he was “sorry for what happened,” but he denied being the assailant.
The victim said the assault forced her to move to a new residence and take prescription medication for panic attacks and caused her to have trouble sleeping.
In October 2003, Smith broke into the home of a Hilton Avenue woman and her 2-year-old son, with the woman awakening to find Smith standing over her in her bedroom, said Dawn Cantalamessa, an assistant county prosecutor.
Smith dragged the woman to another room, put a bandanna she was wearing over her eyes, threatened to kill her and forced her to perform a sex act on him, Cantalamessa said.
Smith forced the woman into other rooms of the house as he looked for money, then forced her to engage in sex with him and made her wash herself before he left the house, the prosecutor added.
There were no suspects identified until 2008, when police matched a sample of DNA taken from Smith with DNA found at the crime scene.
The repeat violent-offender specifications pertain to Smith’s 1986 kidnapping, rape and aggravated robbery convictions, for which he was sentenced to nine to 25 years in prison.