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Man who skipped sentencing gets five years
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Yaumbrail Jones said it was fear of leaving his young daughter that made him skip out on a sentencing hearing in June 2014.
He skipped Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for more than a year to a five-year prison sentence he had agreed to.
But Judge Shirley J. Christian told the 21-year-old Jones on Friday as she sentenced him that though she could understand he was afraid, she was puzzled why at some point he didn’t turn himself in.
“At some point during that year, didn’t it ever occur to you to come back to that sentence you agreed to?” Judge Christian asked.
Judge Christian sentenced Jones to five years in prison for a charge of felonious assault, for which he pleaded guilty to before former Judge James C. Evans in May 2014. He was set for sentencing June 23, 2014, but failed to show up.
He was caught early Monday by city police who found him while investigating gunfire on the East Side.
He originally was accused of pistol-whipping a man Nov. 25, 2013, in a home on Shelby Street.
Assistant Prosecutor Nick Brevetta said he no longer felt bound by the plea agreement because Jones ran from his sentence. He said Jones should receive a sentence over and above what was agreed to.
“I think the court has to send a message that you can’t abscond before sentencing,” Brevetta said.
Lynn Maro, Jones’ attorney, told the judge she thinks the original agreement should be upheld. She said Jones has almost no criminal record and the person he was charged with beating was someone who had burglarized his home, and a friend who had broken his trust.
Judge Christian agreed there was some provocation, but she added she could not figure out why at some point Jones did not turn himself in.
Jones said he was scared because he has hardly any money and there is no one to look after his daughter. He said he did work when he was on the run, doing odd jobs and even working at a McDonald’s. He said he did deserve punishment for the crime for which he pleaded guilty.
Judge Christian said she would stick to the original plea agreement, but she will consider Jones being on the run when he files any requests to be allowed out of prison early. Brevetta said prosecutors were going to stand silent under the original plea agreement when Jones asked for judicial release, but they no longer will do so.