Teenager takes plea deal

A Springfield teenager who was implicated in separate robbery, burglary and drinking incidents earlier this year — all while in the company of various friends — recently struck a plea deal in exchange for a deferred sentence.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101129/NEWS02/711299953

Published November 29, 2010 in the Rutland Herald         Teenager takes plea deal         By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT         SPRINGFIELD — A Springfield teenager who was implicated in separate robbery, burglary and drinking incidents earlier this year — all while in the company of various friends — recently struck a plea deal in exchange for a deferred sentence.         Michael Marrone, who just turned 17 this past week, entered a guilty plea to a felony count of burglary and agreed to refrain from drinking and from possessing any firearms or weapons as part of his agreement with the state, which also calls for him to participate in alcohol and mental health counseling. In exchange, the state agrees to hold off on sentencing him for four years and then to eventually expunge his record if he satisfactorily holds up his end of the bargain.         Marrone admitted to being one of three bandana-wearing teens who stopped an even younger trio of Springfield High students on Olive Street after school one afternoon in January. The younger victims told police that their assailants brandished lighters and a knife while making threats and ordering them to empty their pockets before taking off a with a $5 bill one of them had in his wallet.         Springfield Police Officer Jason Klezos wrote in an affidavit filed with the court that Morrone said the trio’s original plan was to “jump” and beat up another kid who didn’t show and then they shifted their focus to the group that walked by and ended up robbing them because one of the younger boys had supposedly been talking about them disparagingly at school.         After his arrest for that incident, a burglary just after midnight on May 18 got Marrone back in trouble when Springfield Police said they quickly determined that he was one of two hooded subjects who kicked in the plate glass front door of the Mobil Station at the junction of River Street and Route 11 and made off with nearly $4,000 worth of cigarettes in a hastily arranged “smash-and-grab” raid.         While awaiting trial on those cases, Marrone was picked up again after midnight on June 14 on Factory Street where, despite his initially giving police a false name, they soon found that he was out after the court-ordered curfew that was part of his pre-trial release conditions and noticed that he had been drinking.         After approving the agreement and noting it was largely in consideration of his young age, Judge Patricia Zimmerman told Marrone from the bench at criminal court in White River Junction, “I wish you good luck and hope you are not back here again.”         http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101129/NEWS02/711299953