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WARREN -- A Youngstown man accused of trying to harm a meter reader last November, the day after he forced a 58-year-old Warren woman to drive to an ATM to rob her of cash, was sentenced to an indefinite sentence of 12 to 15 years in prison.
Edward Larance Robinson Jr., 24, of 416 Garfield St., pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of kidnapping.
He was labeled a violent offender by Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge W. Wyatt McKay. This means Robinson will have to register personal information to the sheriff's department of his county of residence once per year for 10 years after he is released from prison.
Robinson opted for the plea arrangement offered by Diane Barber, Trumbull County assistant prosecutor, rather than go to trial on the four felony charges that each carry three-year mandatory sentences.
If he had gone to trial and was found guilty by a jury, Barber said he would have faced a possible maximum of 56 years in prison.
On Nov. 11, 2019, a 58-year-old woman was approached outside her home on Mahoning Avenue NW, and the man pulled a gun and grabbed her purse. When the purse did not contain cash, the man ordered the woman to drive her to the nearest ATM, a police report states. After she was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash, the woman dropped off the man at the corner of Vernon Avenue and Comstock Street NW.
The next day, a meter reader told Warren police that a man with an object that looked like a gun demanded money from him in the area of Comstock and Vernon NW. When the victim said he had no money and needed to to go the bank, Robinson and the victim got into a vehicle, according to police reports.
The meter reader was able to exit the vehicle on Comstock, and the suspect fled near the train tracks. A police report from that time said nothing was taken from the meter reader.
Robinson, who was the subject of a manhunt led by U.S. Marshals, flagged down a Warren police officer on Dec. 28, 2019, and offered to turn himself in, telling the officer he wanted to seek treatment for an addiction.
Both the woman and the meter reader identified Robinson from a photo lineup, Barber said.
Before sentencing, Robinson apologized for his actions, blaming it on his drug addiction.