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18-year-old woman receives six months for her part in robbery, burglaries
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge Anthony M. D’Apolito told a Youngstown woman her case is one of the hardest he’s adjudicated in his brief tenure as a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge.
Alyssa Heydle, 18, of Williamson Avenue, pleaded guilty to robbery, attempted burglary, trespass in a habitation and two counts of breaking and entering in July – all felonies.
Heydle, along with Robert McGuire, 26, of Boardman, robbed the Pizza Joe’s at 6810 Market St. at gunpoint on Jan. 21.
The pair also broke into several businesses at Southern Park Mall earlier in January, and Struthers police arrested them attempting to break into a home on Jan. 24.
Heydle faced a maximum sentence of 9 and a half years.
However, both the prosecution and her defense attorneys recommended probation given her age and her voluntary entry into a drug- treatment program that has resulted in seven months of sobriety.
The crimes happened just weeks after her 18th birthday.
Heydle said she had turned to drugs after both her brother and father died, which led to a period of pain and anger.
“When I took my first drug, I felt my pain and heartbreak disappear,” Heydle told the court.
Judge D’Apolito acknowledged that the older McGuire likely manipulated her, but underscored the seriousness of the crimes and his responsibility to protect the public.
“These are bad, bad things,” Judge D’Apolito said.
If he had come across Heydle in the juvenile system, the judge said he would have sent her to the juvenile equivalent of prison.
He ultimately sentenced Heydle to six months in the Mahoning County jail, as a condition of three years’ probation. She will also spend three months in a residential treatment center and one month under house arrest.
The conditions of probation require her to obtain a GED and seek employment.
“I’m making this difficult, and I’m doing it on purpose,” Judge D’Apolito said.
Judge D’Apolito said he walked into the courtroom intending to sentence her to one to two years in prison.
At an earlier sentencing, McGuire received four years.
“You were given a chance today so the rest of your life can be productive and happy,” the judge said.
In her statement before the sentencing, Heydle thanked the criminal justice system for intervening.
“My bad choices saved my life,” Heydle said. “I don’t regret getting caught.”