LEBANON — A former insurance salesman was sentenced to five years of probation Thursday for bilking three elderly clients in Warren County who thought they were buying policies.

Herman

        William L. Herman, 54, who lost his license to sell insurance in Ohio in 2001 for similar allegations, faces more charges in Montgomery and Preble counties, where authorities said he stole from more than a dozen clients.

        Pat Belue, whose 75-year-old father, Davie Stacey, lost $1,750 to Mr. Herman, told Mr. Herman she felt sorry for his family and questioned why the once respected Springboro businessman stole from people who trusted him.

        “I can't believe you done this to people you knew for so many years,” she said when offered a chance to speak at the hearing in Warren County Common Pleas Court.

        “I don't know what has changed you.”

        Mr. Herman, in his black-and-white jail suit, sighed and clenched fists. He started to answer but his lawyer, John H. Rion, hushed him.

        Mr. Herman faced nearly five years in prison for taking more than $5,000 from his Warren County victims. Judge Neal Bronson ordered Mr. Herman, who pleaded guilty in July to three felony counts of theft from the elderly, to receive substance abuse treatment at a correctional facility.

        Springboro police arrested Mr. Herman March 7 on a complaint from one victim, and the case snowballed to include other counties.

        Police said he also is suspected but has not been charged in the armed robbery involving $200,000 in loose diamonds at a Springdale jewelry store last November.

        Court documents said four people, including an aunt, identified Mr. Harman as the suspect in the surveillance video that captured the Nov. 28 heist at Finer Diamonds.

        Mr. Rion would not comment on what spurred Mr. Herman to steal from the elderly, citing the cases pending in neighboring counties.

        At the time of his arrest, police said Mr. Herman was living out of his van and area motels after a divorce and foreclosure on his $254,000 home in Heatherwoode subdivision.

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