Staff photo / Ed Runyan Nathan Frybarger, left, was sentenced to four to six years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to aggravated robbery, two counts of kidnapping and one count of felonious assault in a Nov. 15 incident in the restroom of an Austintown business last November. At right is his attorney, Mark Lavelle.

YOUNGSTOWN — Nathan J. Frybarger, 32, was sentenced to 4 to 6 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to aggravated robbery, two counts of kidnapping and one count of felonious assault, all high-level felonies, for a Nov. 15 incident in the restroom of an Austintown company.

Frybarger has no previous criminal record in Mahoning County and gave the address of a Toledo treatment facility when he was arrested. He has only misdemeanor convictions in his record, Judge Anthony Donofrio of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court said during Frybarger’s hearing.

The charges were filed after Austintown police were called at 9:40 a.m. to Advanced Technologies Partners, 5211 Mahoning Ave., near state Route 11. When officers arrived, they were directed to a man standing inside. The victim said a man with long dark hair, tattoos and a dark skull cap had cut him on the hand, took his wallet and ran from the business.

The description matched Frybarger, who had been warned off the property of a few businesses earlier that day, an Austintown police report states. Ambulance personnel attended to the victim’s “moderate” cut on his hand. The victim said he had gone into the bathroom at the business and saw the suspect inside.

The suspect pulled out a knife and demanded money. The victim said he had none and was forced to show the suspect that his wallet had no money inside. The suspect threatened to stab the victim and demanded money again, the report states.

The victim gave the suspect his credit card. The suspect kept asking for the victim’s PIN number, with the victim trying to “de-escalate” the situation by talking about his life and family, but the suspect continued to threaten him with the knife, the report states.

The suspect forced the victim to remove his shoes and socks and forced him to lift up his foot so the suspect could “smell his bare feet,” the report states.

The suspect finally shoved the victim into the “stall area” where the urinal was located and cut the victim on the hand. The victim’s co-worker came into the bathroom, but left quickly to report the incident. The suspect then left the bathroom after threatening to return and shoot the victim if he said anything, the report states.

The suspect followed the co-worker to his office, but the co-worker locked his office door. The co-worker yelled to someone to call police, and the suspect left the building. Officers located Frybarger nearby and found the victim’s property on him, the report states. Frybarger was taken to jail.

During his hearing, Fryburger told the judge that being in the Mahoning County jail has been a “scary” experience because there are murderers and rapists there.

“These are not people who have a problem with drug and alcohol addiction,” he said.

His attorney, Mark Lavelle, noted that the presentence investigation of Frybarger’s criminal history and background “outlines a long history of mental illness coupled with a variety of addictions.” He said Frybarger has never been in prison before.

He asked Donofrio to sentence Frybarger to four years in prison instead of the five recommended by prosecutors. Then Fryburger can ask the judge in two or three years to make use of “tools” in the justice system to help him “get back on the right track” for his addictions and mental health issues.

Fryburger spoke a second time, saying he was “not raised” like many of the people in the county jail.

“I have absolutely no idea what I am getting myself into. I am just going with the flow.”

The judge responded by saying, “Do you understand the serious nature of the offenses against you and what you put the victims through in this case? It’s a terrible thing you did.”

Frybarger agreed that it was.

“If you were doing drugs at the time or whatever it was, it was still your personal choice that you decided to partake in, and you have to suffer the consequences of that,” Donofrio said.

Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Kyle Hilles said the victim who was cut suffered a “small scratch,” went to the hospital but “it was not a serious injury by any means.”

Frybarger got credit for 188 days in the Mahoning County jail awaiting trial.