Eight years in prison for $8 million heist

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A man who stole about $8 million from an armored car company where he worked was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison.

Roger Dillon, 23, of Youngstown, told the judge that the heist was a stupid thing to do.

“I can’t look back and justify what I did,” Dillon said. “Things seemed hopeless and this seemed like a way out.”

Dillon and his girlfriend, Nicole Boyd, 25, pleaded guilty in March to bank larceny and other charges in what federal prosecutors said was one of the largest thefts ever in northern Ohio.

Dillon and Boyd, who say they are still in love, committed the crime because of financial hardship, which included the foreclosure of their house.

“I couldn’t see all the good things I had in life,” Dillon said. “I was focusing on the bad things. I can’t believe I let it all go for the money.”

Dillon’s mother, Sharon Gregory, 49, who conspired with the couple and fled with them to West Virginia, was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday.

U.S. District Judge John R. Adams gave her a lighter sentence because she didn’t participate in the actual theft, didn’t know the amount of money involved and because of her desperation from a longtime crack addiction.

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com