Thursday, July 15, 1999
Judge delays decision on pawn shop robbers
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Three convicted pawn shop robbers went to court Wednesday hoping for leniency, but left with only more time to wait to learn their fate.
Two former Simon Kenton High School students held up the Quick Cash pawn shop in Taylor Mill at gunpoint in April 1998 while another served as the getaway driver. But on Wednesday, after thinking for 15 months about what they did, Matthew Johnson, Brandon Crouthers and Travis Evans insisted they have changed.
“I know in my heart that I've changed,” said Mr. Johnson, 18, whose counselors testified that he talks a lot in therapy about wanting to be responsible for his baby daughter.
“I wish I could spend time with people who doubt. I just know that I'm going to be successful in life.”
But Kenton Circuit Judge Steven Jaeger said he wanted more time to decide, and sent the three men back to their respective jails. He's the same judge who, in January, said anything less than 20-year sentences for Mr. Crouthers and Mr. Johnson, plus 10 years for Mr. Evans, would send the wrong message to society.
Each of the three was back in court for a different reason:
• Mr. Evans, 19, of Erlanger, wants shock probation. The only one of the three who was an adult at the time of the crime, he has been behind bars since January.
His lawyer and family always have portrayed him as less involved than the other two, and they focus on his good grades at Thomas More College, where he was enrolled before he went to jail.
He also was sentenced to five years for an unrelated burglary of a neighbor's house. Dr. Ed Connor, a clinical psychologist who treated Mr. Evans, said he saw a marked improvement in Mr. Evans during their 25 visits.
• Because Mr. Johnson turned 18 between the offense and his sentencing, he was designated a youthful offender and sent temporarily to a juvenile detention facility instead of an adult prison. He could be ordered to serve the rest of
his 20-year sentence in an adult facility or, as his attorney Deanna Dennison requested, get an alternative sentence. She asked for probation.
• Mr. Crouthers, of Independence, who turned 18 late last month, has been kept in the custody of the state Department of Juvenile Justice because he was a juvenile. He also could be sent to an adult prison or given something less. His attorney, Darrell Cox, asked for probation.
“I've learned, you know, that you can't always take the easy way out,” Mr. Crouthers told the judge. “My feeling is total remorse toward the victim, toward my family, toward (Mr. Johnson's) family. I just want everyone to know I'm sorry.”
Judge Jaeger did not say when he would decide.
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