Store robber sentenced to 18 years in prison

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A man who pleaded guilty to five South Side store robberies has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Manny Zarlengo, 18, of Lucius Avenue or Tod Lane, drew the sentence Thursday from Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Zarlengo, who was bound over from juvenile court to adult court, pleaded guilty in December to taking part in robberies of a Dollar General, Family Dollar, Taco Bell, Subway and McDonald’s, all between Oct. 4 and 18, 2013.

In the robberies, two men, at least one of them armed, would enter the businesses, take the cash register and cash from the safe and rob any patrons inside of their wallets before fleeing by car, according to Dawn Cantalamessa, an assistant county prosecutor.

Zarlengo was identified through store surveillance video.

Zarlengo’s co-defendant, Joseph Mascarella, 20, of Mahoning County jail, is scheduled for a jury trial next month before Judge D’Apolito.