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WARREN -- A Niles man caught by police last March attempting to break into a safe at Huntington Bank inside a Niles Giant Eagle store received a 18-month prison sentence.
Joshua T. Huey, 33, of Williams Street, appeared Monday before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Peter J. Kontos for sentencing. Huey and his attorney Robert Kokor asked for leniency, but Kontos opted for a prison sentence after hearing the argument from assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow, who sought for a three-year prison term.
In a prepared statement, Huey said he was disappointed, embarrassed and ashamed by his actions.
In a police report, Niles police were called after 2 a.m. March 15, 2020, to the Giant Eagle where they heard the noise of a power tool and smelled hot metal before finding a 32-year-old man, identified as Huey, attempting to use power tools to break into a safe at the Huntington Bank.
Court records show Huey pleaded guilty Oct. 5, 2020, to charges of vandalism, safecracking, possession of criminal tools and two counts breaking and entering.
Kokor, in seeking probation or a sentence at the alternative prison program, said his client's criminal problems stemmed from a 2008 accident in which he became addicted to pain pills. After a short prison sentence, Kokor said Huey joined a church, got married and started a company with eight employees. But some recent stress in his life, including his wife leaving him and some bad decisions, led to a relapse.
Huey also recently was convicted in the theft of six Apple watches worth about $2,000 from the Walmart Super Center in Bazetta in January 2020.
Morrow said the defendant's criminal record showed 12 prior convictions, and Morrow thought the defense arguments for leinency were shallow, especially for breaking into a bank.
"If he had a drug problem, you would think he would break into a pharmacy at Giant Eagle and not the bank," Morrow said.