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Serial robber in Valley sentenced to 171/2 years
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Taylor III
CLEVELAND
A federal judge has sent a serial robber to prison for 171/2 years and ordered him to pay $40,135 in restitution.
U.S. District Court Judge James S. Gwin imposed the sentence Tuesday on Isiah Taylor III, also known as “Speedy,” 44, of Youngstown, who police said was linked to more than 40 Ohio and Pennsylvania robberies spanning eight years.
“This defendant had a long run spreading mayhem throughout our region, but he was finally brought to justice,” said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
“This sentence ensures that the defendant will have plenty of time to reflect on his actions,” the federal prosecutor added.
In February, a federal trial jury convicted Taylor of one count each of conspiracy to commit robbery and using or carrying a gun in relation to a crime and three counts of robbery.
Taylor specialized in robberies of merchants making night bank deposits, according to Jack Nichols, Boardman police chief.
The indictment accuses Taylor of robberies in Hermitage and New Castle, Pa., and in Alliance and Canton, and multiple robberies in the Akron and Youngstown-Warren areas between 2001 and 2009.
The techniques used by Taylor and his unnamed co-conspirators included monitoring a police scanner to avoid capture and placing traffic cones immediately outside a bank deposit box, the indictment said. The cone placement would make victims easier to rob by forcing them to exit their vehicles to make deposits, the indictment said.
Among the robberies listed in the indictment are a 2006 robbery of $900 from Dollar Tree in Boardman, 2007 robberies of $11,000 from Tractor Supply Co. of Hermitage and $2,119 from Sbarro Pizza in Boardman, a 2008 robbery of $3,640 from Belleria Pizza in Struthers, and a 2009 robbery of the purses of two employees as they closed Purpose Money in Boardman.
Taylor was arrested at a traffic stop after the 2009 robbery, and state charges were dismissed when federal charges were filed.
Taylor’s record isn’t limited to robbery. In 1989, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to eight to 25 years in prison. Taylor was accused of fatally shooting his uncle several hours after his uncle had purportedly slain Taylor’s aunt.
The series of robberies was investigated by Boardman and Youngstown police and the FBI.