Medina man sentenced to state prison for attempted robbery
ALBION – A Medina man who admitted to punching a customer outside the VFW in Medina and then taking $200 from the victim was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison.
William Cruz, 41, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery in the third degree for the crime on March 15. He has two prior felonies and nine misdemeanors.
He was ordered to pay back the $200, plus $740 in the victim’s medical expenses.
“You have a long record,” Orleans County Court Judge James Punch said at sentencing on Monday. “You’ve been given opportunities to deal with alcohol, but you don’t seem to have the backbone to deal with it.”
In other cases at county court:
David Nichols, 28, of Albion admitted to trying to sell prescription narcotics that were rolled into cigarettes.
Nichols said his mother Theresa S. Nichols, 51, of Albion supplied the hydrocodone and acetaminophen that he sold. He pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree.
He could face 1 ½ to 4 years in state prison as a second-felony offender. He will be sentenced on Feb. 10. Punch set bail at $10,000 for Nichols.
His mother pleaded guilty in court last week. She could face up to four years in state prison after she pleaded guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree.
Nichols has another son who was also charged with selling prescription narcotics. Joshua Nichols, 26, of Albion appeared in court on Monday. He was assigned the public defender. He earned too much to qualify for the public defender but was recently laid off from his job.
Brandon Kirby, 26, of Albion could be sentenced to up to a year in jail for failing to install an ignition inter-lock device. That is a violation of his probation.
Kirby faces numerous charges after a crash on Oct. 23 in Clarendon when he allegedly crossed Mansfield Road, onto private property and struck a building owned by Acme Powerwashing Inc., of Holley.
Kirby was charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 2nd Degree, Operating a Vehicle Without an Ignition Inter-Lock Device, Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Incident, and Failure to Stop for a Stop Sign.
Kirby will be sentenced for the probation violations on Jan. 13.
