Man gets almost five years in prison for one-day crime spree

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Judge R. Scott Krichbaum said the case of Robert Mogg is a frustrating one.

Judge Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court said Tuesday the 51-year-old Mogg has a criminal record dating back to 1986.

Mogg has been to prison before, and the judge said he does not expect much to change despite a glowing letter by Mogg’s girlfriend read into the record after he is done serving a four-year, nine-month sentence after he pleaded guilty to a series of crimes in October.

“This is the kind of case where a judge really can’t solve anything,” Judge Krichbaum said. “All I can do is keep you away from the rest of us for a period of time.”

Mogg got the same sentence his accomplice, Gregory Bass, received for a series of crimes mainly committed beginning in the early morning of Oct. 14.

The pair are accused of using a stolen truck Mogg was driving to break into a dentist’s office at Mahoning and North Dunlap avenues on the West Side to steal computers and a television. A fire was also set there to cover the crime.

They also are accused of backing into the garage door of an Industrial Road warehouse on the West Side and taking several tools, taking an air conditioner from a South Side home on Powers Way and backing into another garage door, only to drive away because they could not get in.

They are accused of backing into a door at a field and supply store Oct. 12 only to be foiled because a forklift was parked behind the door. The truck was found on fire Oct. 15 on the West Side, five houses away from Mogg’s home, said Assistant Prosecutor Michael Rich.

Prosecutors were recommending a four-year sentence, but Judge Krichbaum said he thinks a longer sentence would have been more appropriate. Mogg pleaded guilty to charges of burglary, breaking and entering, receiving stolen property, vandalism and theft.

Mogg’s lawyer, Mark Lavelle, said he thought four years was the appropriate sentence, especially since Mogg is not charged or accused of setting the fire at the dentist’s office. He said his client, who cannot read or write, battled drug addiction for years, was shot in the back in 2014 and has liver and kidney disease.

Mogg said he takes responsibility for his actions and hopes to use his time in prison to get off drugs for good. “I will better myself while I am away,” Mogg said.

But Judge Krichbaum said based on Mogg’s record, he does not have a lot of faith Mogg will be a changed man when he is released from prison.

“I probably wouldn’t bet a $5 bill on that [changing], looking at your record,” Judge Krichbaum said.