Judge D’Apolito gives jail time to 4 in wine shoppe robbery
YOUNGSTOWN
Four men convicted of multiple charges in a West Side wine-shop robbery this year will spend the next several years behind bars.
Quashaun Tubbs, 18; Joshua Ben-Naim 20; Isiah Mosley, 19, and Vanets Jones III, 27, all of Youngstown, pleaded guilty to charges including attempted robbery, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and illegal possession of a weapon. They each appeared for sentencing Thursday before Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Mosely, Jones and Tubbs received a six-year prison term, while Ben-Naim was given a four-year term. Jones also was sentenced for domestic violence in an unrelated case. He was given 18 months in prison to be served concurrently with his six-year sentence.
According to police, three of the men entered the Mahoning Wine Shoppe on Mahoning Avenue on May 24 with their faces covered. One pulled out a handgun and demanded clerks inside the store hand over money in the cash register.
Two of the men began taking money out of the register and stuffing it into a pillow case. One of the men demanded the clerk’s cellphone and when she refused to hand it over, she was beaten repeatedly in the head and face.
The robbery and assault lasted for several minutes until a customer walked into the store and yelled for the men to stop. They all ran out to a waiting car with the fourth man driving. Police quickly apprehended them.
Three of the victims in the case addressed the court before sentencing, saying the attack and robbery still are affecting their lives. They each wanted the four men to receive as much time as possible.
“I am seeing a psychiatrist because I have night terrors. ... It bothers me,” said William Golic. “I also have an injury to my shoulder from one of the men pulling me to the safe.”
Tammy Garecy was beaten repeatedly in the robbery.
“I don’t understand why this happened. I was nice to two of the guys,” she said. “They were regular customers in the store, and I never did anything wrong to them.”
Each of the attorneys representing the men — Ronald Yarwood for Tubbs, Ross Smith for Jones, J.P. Lasko for Ben-Naim, and Michael Kivlighan for Mosely — told the court their respective clients are sorry for what they did and want to take responsibility for their actions.
Each of the defendants apologized to the court and the robbery victims.
“It is a sad commentary on how we can get four young men who before had no serious issues [with crime] and end up with a situation like this where we have all these people hurting,” Judge D’Apolito said.