Staff photo / Ed Runyan ... Keijuan L. Perkins, left, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison recently after he pleaded guilty to eight charges involving a vehicle theft. His attorney at right is Lou DeFabio.

YOUNGSTOWN — The recent plea and sentencing hearing of Keijuan Perkins, 33, in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court showed how complicated a criminal case and prosecution can be.

Judge Anthony D’Apolito sentenced Perkins to nearly five years in prison Nov. 12 after Perkins pleaded guilty to felonies of robbery, grand theft of a motor vehicle, aggravated drug possession, receiving stolen property and obstructing official business.

The convictions resulted from a Jan. 22 incident at a property on West Avondale Avenue in Youngstown that the victim manages as a property owner. The victim was walking to his vehicle when Perkins, whom he knew, opened the front passenger door, got in and “proceeds to partially brandish a knife hidden in his right jacket sleeve, placing the tip of the knife to (the victim’s) ribs,” according to a Youngstown police report.

Perkins told the victim to drive to the Shell gas station on Market Street in the city “because Perkins wanted to purchase drugs from an unknown male. (The victim), in fear for his life, complied and drove Perkins to the gas station,” the report states.

The victim said Perkins told him “to hand over his wallet or Perkins would kill him,” the report states. Perkins took the car keys and the victim’s wallet, then bought drugs and came back to the car. Perkins ordered the victim to drive to Chalmers Avenue, where Perkins wanted to buy more drugs. Then Perkins changed his mind and kicked the victim out of the car, the report states.

The victim said he hired Perkins two months earlier to work on homes the victim owns. The victim also said Perkins had been at the victim’s house the previous day, Jan. 21. The victim’s car went missing that day, Jan. 21, the victim said.

The victim said he thinks Perkins took it Jan. 21 using a key fob Perkins had stolen. The victim said he did not report the vehicle stolen because he feared that Perkins would retaliate against him. A third party returned the vehicle to the victim 12 hours after it disappeared, the victim said.

PLEA AND SENTENCING

Though Perkins pleaded guilty Nov. 12 to five felonies for the Jan. 22 episode involving the theft of the car and wallet and threatening the victim, Perkins also was indicted on three first -degree felonies in the case — two counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated robbery. If he would have been convicted of those offenses, he could have gotten more than 30 years in prison.

But after prosecutors learned more about the case, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the three most serious charges in exchange for Perkins’ guilty pleas to the other offenses.

During Perkins’ plea and sentencing hearing, Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Katherine Jones said the victim initially said he knew Perkins because Perkins had done repair work for him, but he later “recanted on jail calls” and said he and Perkins were actually “in a relationship.”

The plea agreement came with a recommendation of four to six years in prison, in addition to another year in prison for an unrelated failure-to-comply conviction that occurred a couple of months later for a total of five to six years in prison.

Jones said prosecutors would not offer an opinion on whether D’Apolito should grant Perkins an early release from prison after six months, which is called judicial release.

Jones said the victim, who did not attend Perkins’ plea and sentencing hearing, had taken the position that his wish was that Perkins “get help” for his drug addictions and other problems and for prosecutors to “stand silent” as to whether Perkins would be granted judicial release.

Jones noted that another of the victim’s wishes was that Perkins be allowed to enter SCORE Court, which stands for Second Chance Offender Re-entry. It is an alternative sentencing program in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court run by Judge Anthony Donofrio.

SCORE Court’s goal is to help people transition from incarceration back into society. It involves a team that provides support, education, access to treatment and mental health services, housing, job training and employment and regular appearances before Donofrio, similar to Drug Court.

Jones said at the hearing that the victim was satisfied with the state recommending four to six years in prison for the crimes involving him and Perkins possibly getting out of prison early.

THE CRIMES

In discussing all of Perkins’ crimes, Jones said on Jan. 22, Perkins “threatened” the victim, “forced him to drive to the Shell gas station (in Youngstown), where he was going to purchase narcotics and then took him to another location.”

“The victim was able to get out of the vehicle. The defendant left with (the victim’s) vehicle and personal property, including (the victim’s) wallet and car keys.”

She continued, “After that incident, the next day, the Ohio State Highway Patrol did locate the stolen vehicle with the defendant still in possession of the key fob. When they attempted to take Mr. Perkins into custody, he fled on foot and resisted. And ultimately they did find narcotics in a backpack in his possession,” Jones said.

In mid-March, while Perkins was free on bond in that case, “officers were called for a vehicle driving erratically at an apartment complex. Officers located that vehicle. (Perkins) failed to stop and drove for approximately 15 minutes through residential areas at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. He went off road, disregarded (traffic lights), ultimately driving through a fence and getting stuck in rear yards,” she said. Perkins was indicted on failure to comply in that case and also pleaded guilty to that offense Nov. 12

DEFENSE ATTORNEY

When Perkins’ attorney, Lou DeFabio, spoke at the hearing, he said the victim was not being forthcoming about the true nature of the relationship he had with Perkins in the early stages of the criminal proceedings.

“And then of course we come to find out from jail calls, he’s talking to him all along, and on the jail calls, he said ‘I lied to police,'” DeFabio said. “So I don’t really know what happened in the first go-around with the car. This was not a case of kidnapping and aggravated robbery as it was originally reported. It sounds to me like it was more of an argument where Keijuan ended up with the car.”

DeFabio said after Perkins was initially charged in the case, the victim “did constantly reach out to me.” He said Perkins “never knew his father,” and Perkins was left at “young age to fend for himself.”

DeFabio said the victim told him that Perkins going to prison “will not rehabilitate him, nor will it solve his issues.” The victim said that “on drugs, he does things he doesn’t remember” and “falls asleep and can’t be awakened.” DeFabio said the victim told him, “I want to help (Perkins) to get better. I want him to get a chance to get better.”

DeFabio said he told Perkins that there is no guarantee of D’Apolito granting Perkins judicial release, “in fact just the opposite,” but the idea of getting treatment through SCORE Court would give Perkins “something to strive toward.”

JUDGE

As D’Apolito began to talk, he warned Perkins that he rarely grants judicial release. He said he thinks he grants it less than other judges. Perkins said he understood.

“A lot of what I do is balancing understanding, empathizing but also being realistic and understanding my job, which is protecting the community,” D’Apolito said.

The judge added that he visited a state prison recently and “spent the day there” and came away with a new perspective on what takes place there. “They do make a true effort to help people,” he said. “There are programs there. There’s counseling.”

Then he sentenced Perkins to four years and nine months in prison that would make Perkins eligible for judicial release and also ordered Perkins to serve a five-year driver’s license suspension and ordered him to make restitution of $1,263 to the owner of the fence Perkins damaged.