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One pleads, another jailed, in robbery case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
One person had his bond revoked and another entered guilty pleas to 11 counts of aggravated robbery Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Joseph Mascarella, 20, and Manny Zarlengo, 19, were both set to go on trial before Judge Lou D’Apolito for a string of robberies on the South Side in October of 2013.
It was Zarlengo who entered the guilty pleas, which included firearms specifications. Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa recommended a sentence of 18 years for Zarlengo.
In a separate hearing, Cantalamessa then asked that Mascarella have his bond revoked. She said a person in the case who owned the car that was alleged to have been used in the robberies was found murdered Nov. 17. Antwon Lee Martinez, 20, was found shot to death on a sidewalk on Guadalupe Avenue on the North Side. No arrests have been made in his case.
Martinez owned the car witnesses said was used in the robberies and he told investigators that he lent the car to Mascarella because Mascarella needed it to go to school, Cantalamessa said.
Cantalamessa told Judge D’Apolito that Martinez’s sister and mother received threats from either Mascarella or a person claiming to be Mascarella online. She asked for Mascarella’s bond to be revoked to ensure witnesses and the community would be safe.
Jeff Limbian, representing Mascarella, said there is no proof his client sent the threats and asked that a chance be given to investigate.
Judge D’Apolito said the threats could be investigated but he also ordered Mascarella’s bond revoked and that he be taken to jail.
“I don’t need to have this community threatened by anyone,” Judge D’Apolito said.
Mascarella’s case is now delayed while the threats are investigated.
Zarlengo pleaded guilty to taking part in five robberies of a Dollar General, Family Dollar, Taco Bell, Subway and a McDonald’s, all on the South Side, from Oct. 4 to Oct. 18, 2013.
Cantalamessa said in the robberies, two men, at least one of them armed, would enter the businesses, take the cash register, cash from the safe and also rob any patrons inside of their wallets. The robbers used a gold Chevrolet Impala to make their getaways.
Zarlengo and another defendant were identified on television through surveillance video.
Police doing a “knock and talk,” or an investigation when they knock on the door of a suspect and ask to speak to them, found cash drawers in the backyard of one of the suspects, wallets belonging to patrons, hooded sweatshirts used in the robberies and a shoe they say matched another one dropped by Zarlengo at one of the robberies.
A sentencing date for Zarlengo has not been set.