The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

May 18, 2009

UPDATE: Youngstown man gets prison time for armed robberies

By Joe Pinchot

HERMITAGE — A Youngstown man who pleaded guilty to two charges covering three armed robberies in 2007 and 2008 was sentenced May 8 to 5 to 10 years in state prison.

Sean L. Queener, 38, also was ordered by Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed to pay $17,101 restitution.

Queener pleaded guilty March 11 to charges of theft and conspiracy to commit robbery. As part of Queener’s plea deal, the Mercer County District Attorney’s Office agreed to recommend he not be imprisoned for longer than 10 years.

Queener had already spent nearly a year in jail and was given credit for his time dating back to May 16, 2006.

Hermitage police gave this account of three robberies:

• Queener drove onto the sidewalk at 9:15 p.m. Nov. 12, 2007, at National City Bank, 2470 E. State St., where two female employees of Dollar Tree, 1950 E. State, were making a deposit. Queener got out of the car, pointed a gun at the woman with the money, demanded it from her, and threatened to shoot her. The woman complied and Queener drove away with $2,325.

• Two employees of Tractor Supply Co., 2298 E. State St., had just closed the store at about 8:45 p.m. Nov. 23, 2007, and were walking to their cars when Queener got out of a car and pointed a gun at them. Queener demanded money, which was given to him, and also took their keys and a purse. The car Queener drove had been stolen about an hour earlier from the 500 block of South Hermitage Road, and was abandoned in the rear of Hermitage Hills Plaza. He got away with $11,000.

• Two female employees of Dollar Stuff, 2461 E. State St., had just closed the store and were walking to their cars when Queener pulled next to them at about 10 p.m. May 13, 2008. Queener demanded purses and the night deposit bag, which they gave to him. The car Queener drove had been stolen from the parking lot of American Legion Post 299, 1395 E. State St., Sharon, and was found in the rear of Hermitage Towne Plaza. He got away with $1,809.

Police said they worked with Boardman, Ohio, police and Pennsylvania State Police to identify Queener as a suspect, and the victims in two of the robberies identified him from a photographic lineup.

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