NORWICH – An convenience store burglar released by the court before beginning his prison sentence was arrested again Thursday for breaking into another local gas station.
Judge W. Howard Sullivan rejected a plea deal sentence of two and a half to five years and instead sentenced 32-year-old Robert E. Straight of Plymouth to five and a half to 11 years in state prison, in addition to the time he owes for violating his parole.
“After your actions, whenever anyone comes before this court and wants a furlough and can’t have one, they can thank Robert Straight,” the judge told the defendant.
A week ago, Straight stood before Sullivan and pleaded guilty to two separate crimes involving similar thefts from convenience stores.
After accepting a plea deal with the DA’s office, Sullivan granted a request by the defense to release Straight for a week so he could get his affairs in order.
However, the New York State Police charged Straight with another count of third degree burglary following an investigation into an activated security alarm Wednesday at the Kwik Fill gas station at 6135 State Highway 12, Norwich.
Straight had already pleaded guilty to breaking into the Country Store gas station, which is just a few hundred feet south from the Kwik Fill, in August shortly after being released from prison on another burglary charge.
The Norwich Police Department said it responded to a reported burglary in progress at the Kwik Fill gas station Wednesday and found a broken window and footprints in the snow leading to a wooded area behind the store.
Chief Joseph Angelino pointed out that the incident was nearly identical to the one police encountered in the previous burglary Straight was involved in at the Country Store.
Angelino said officers again followed the tracks left in the snow and eventually discovered Straight hiding in a tree line near the Valley View Trailer Park. As with the previous case, city officers handed Straight over to state troopers since the crime took place several hundred feet outside of their jurisdiction.
Straight appeared in court Friday and told Sullivan the sentence against him was too severe. He admitted to having an uncontrollable addition to substances including PCP and said all his arrests, since his first in 1993, had been motivated by a desire to acquire drugs. He also admitted to selling drugs to feed his habit. Straight expressed concern for his wife and family in his absence, saying that despite his addiction, he held steady employment.
Straight’s Defense Attorney Aaron Dean asked the court to postpone the sentencing so the defense could argue the judge’s decision to reject the DA’s previous offer based on the new arrest.
“Essentially your honor, Mr. Straight appears to be paying for a crime he has not yet been convicted of,” Dean told the court, referring to his client’s most recent arrest. Dean also made a motion to have a hearing to review Straight’s guilty plea and possibly have it thrown out in light of the new developments. Sullivan denied both requests.
“I believe in being punished for the crimes I committed,” Straight told the court. “But I never injured anyone, I never committed a violent crime or broke into any place someone might have been living.”
Straight said he had never served more than two years in prison and had always been able to take advantage of early release and treatment programs. “I have never committed a violent act at someone, but this in itself is a violent sentence,” said Straight, explaining he was stabbed during his last stay in prison.
“You’ve had plenty of opportunities to change. You say you need to be in an environment to help fight your addiction. Prison can offer you that. You need to be kept out of society,” said Sullivan.