43
One sentenced on gang charges, other fails to appear
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge Lou D’Apolito is not a seer, yet he told a man he was sentencing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday that he was sure he will see the defendant again.
Part of what led the judge to predict the future: a pair of slippers.
Judge D’Apolito told Daniel Bell, 23, of Tyrell Avenue, that he bases his prediction on Bell’s past history, which includes being rearrested on charges of trying to steal a pair of slippers while he was out on bond awaiting sentencing for being a part of a West Side street gang.
“Your past tells me I’ll probably see you again,” Judge D’Apolito said to Bell just before he sentenced him to five years’ probation, with the first six months of that probation to be served in the county jail, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of participating in a criminal gang.
Another defendant, Kyree Grabe, 20, of Trusitt Avenue, also was to be sentenced Tuesday, but he failed to show up for the hearing. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Grabe and Bell each pleaded guilty to being members of the E Block Street Gang, which had its base around the Evanston Avenue area on the lower West Side. Assistant Prosecutor Martin Desmond said probation was being recommended for both Bell and Grabe in exchange for their cooperation should any of the other defendants go to trial.
Testimony was not needed, but both men, while free on bail in the gang case, were rearrested. Grabe was caught in a stolen car early Aug. 18 and had more than $1,000 cash on him and a bag in the car had 43 rounds of ammunition. He did manage to post bond in that case, however.
Bell was arrested July 3 for stealing a pair of slippers in Walmart in Austintown. He pleaded no contest in Mahoning County Area Court in Austintown, was found guilty and sentenced to probation.
Bell’s attorney, Ross Smith, said his client was under the influence of drugs when he took the slippers.
“He was high,” Smith said. “He actually had slippers on his feet at the time and he had the money to pay for them.”
The arrest not only violated the conditions of bond in the gang case, but also caused him to violate his probation in a felony domestic violence case.
Smith said his client is sober now and was working at the time he was last arrested. He also has a 2-year-old daughter to care for, Smith said.
But Judge D’Apolito said he had to think if Smith’s client was worthy of probation.
“Anyone who is into this deep of a well of trouble who would allow himself to be arrested for another crime before he is sentenced by me gives me pause,” Judge D’Apolito said.
Bell told the judge he had a “lapse of judgment” when he took the slippers. Judge D’Apolito said it appears Bell has a judgment problem.
“I don’t have much hope for you,” Judge D’Apolito said. “I don’t think you understand what it takes to stay out of trouble.”
The jail sentence Bell was given is consecutive to any sentence he might have to serve on the probation violation. As a condition of his probation, Bell must undergo drug abuse counseling and get a GED. The judge said Bell can prove him wrong but if violates his probation on the gang case, he will go to prison for the maximum sentence possible.