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A Buffalo, N.Y. man who pled guilty to burglary and aggravated assault stemming from an August 2016 incident in Pleasant Township will spend at least the next 10 years behind bars.
LaRoy D. Hough, 38, was sentenced by President Judge Maureen Skerda on Friday.
The incident occurred on August 13, 2016 at two residences on Pleasant Drive - 3326 and 3411 - as well as at 2581 Lenhart Rd.
While state police were responding to one address, a second call came from 3411 Pleasant Dr. where the resident "reported that their truck had just been stolen from their driveway."
That resident followed the truck in a second truck and stopped his truck along the roadway "knowing that the accused had "fled down a one-way road and would have no choice but to turn around and come back towards" him.
The truck, driven by Hough, allegedly crashed off the side of the roadway as he approached the resident.
Hough and the resident, police said, "engaged in a brief physical altercation" which ended when Hough threw the victim to the ground.
Hough, police allege, "then jumped into the second truck and attempted to flee the scene. In doing so, he ran the leg (of the man) over, throwing his body forcefully to the ground, breaking his ribs and sternum and collapsing his lung."
Hough fled the scene but wasn't charged until November. He was captured by U.S. Marshals in Florida nearly four months later.
His attorney, Alan Conn, acknowledged on Friday that Hough was in court on some serious charges and said that Hough apologizes and deeply regrets what he has done.
Conn noted that Hough was trying to flee the scene, not run down the victim and noted that letters were submitted on his behalf from his mother, girlfriend and employer, who said Hough excelled at work.
He said that Hough's prior record does not include and violent crime and noted that Hough is hard of hearing.
However, Skerda noted that a report from New York State corrections found Hough's hearing loss to be non-significant.
The wife and son of the injured victim addressed the court.
His wife told the court that Hough doesn't understand the difference between right and wrong.
"You have to care first," she said. "You only know 'take,' with no regard….
"You don't care. I've asked that you be made an example of."
She said that Hough took their trust, confidence, sense of safety and "everything we have worked for."
The victim's son asked that Hough be ordered to no longer be in Warren County.
"This waste of human flesh is a career animal," he said, suggesting that if someone takes from him he should let it go. "Would it be your fault when you get shanked where you're going?"
District Attorney Rob Greene said that Conn talks about how Hough regrets what he's done but said that he's sorry because he got caught.
He said a letter from Hough's mom indicates her belief that her son had killed someone.
He also called for the sentence on the aggravated assault to be in the aggravated range due to the severity of the victim's injury.
Hough then addressed the court and said that he "grew up in a much different environment" than Warren County.
He said he was traveling through the area and was held at gunpoint by the first victim and explained that he was "shooken up while fleeing. When I stole the vehicle, I didn't think I would hurt anybody. I do care because I didn't plow into him with his own truck."
Hough claimed that he never heard the victim approach him.
"I really didn't mean to hurt" the victim, he reiterated. "I wasn't thinking." He said all he could think was "let me get out of here, let me get out of here, let me get out of here."
He said he returned the call of a state trooper and asked whether anyone was hurt but acknowledged he "wasn't man enough to turn myself in."
"He has right to retain his property," he said of the victim. "My actions caused him to get hurt. I'm sorry I did wrong for stealing his (truck) in front of him.
"Some of my survival skills aren't the best they can be," he added. "I can admit to being wrong."
Skerda detailed his prior record, which includes trespass, burglary, arson, contraband, theft and possession of stolen property, resulting in seven different jail sentences.
"It's a long history," she said. "Despite beginning with probation… you continued to escalate your criminal behavior…. Most of your adult life you have had criminal behavior.
"You've made choices here."
Skerda said Hough was not a candidate for rehabilitation and has expressed little remorse.
"You've learned to take and that is a lifestyle you chose."
Hough was then sentenced to a total of 124 months to 378 months in state prison.
On a count of burglary, he was sentenced to 30 months to 10 years, $3,000 in fines and fees, submission of a DNA sample and to not trespass and have no contact with the victims. He was given credit for 247 days time served and is boot camp eligible on that charge but not recidivism risk reduction incentive eligible.
He was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to the un-injured victim and $6,396 to that man's insurance company.
For a plea to aggravated assault, he was sentenced to 42 months to 10 years incarceration, a sentence in the aggravated range given the extent of the injured victim's injuries, with whom he is to have no contact and a no trespass order against.
At that charge, he was ordered to pay $141,049.22 in restitution to the man's insurance company and $332.24 to the Victim Compensation Fund.
He was further sentenced to 27 to 60 months in prison on a count of theft by unlawful taking, nine to 18 months on a count of criminal mischief and 16 to 60 months in prison, $1,100 in fines and fees, $800 in restitution and a no contact/no trespass order at another docket on a count of theft by unlawful taking.