Addict who stole from his sponsor gets 2 years

YOUNGSTOWN

Jeffrey Gooden is sincere in getting help for his addiction to pills, a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge told him Wednesday.

However, Judge Shirley J. Christian also told him she has to look at his past record before deciding if he should go to prison on a felony burglary charge.

The fact that he has a past record, was on judicial release and went back to abusing pills led her to give him a sentence of two years in prison.

“It’s about the crimes you committed when you relapsed and the crimes you committed in the past,” Judge Christian told him. “In my mind, you allowed your problem to become someone else’s problem. And I can’t say that’s OK.”

Gooden, 32, of Alliance, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary for taking items from a Beloit home on June 28 of last year.

Assistant Prosecutor Mary Beth DiGravio said Gooden was sentenced to four years in prison for a burglary in Portage County, but was released from prison on judicial release.

DiGravio said that while on judicial release, Gooden began abusing pills again, went to treatment, then and stole from his sponsor.

Read more about the casein Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.