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.
