Man sentenced in Mexico thefts

By M. Dirk Langeveld
Staff Writer

PARIS – A 23-year-old man who admitted to stealing a cash register and purse from a Mexico store in January was sentenced to serve one year in prison on Friday at the Oxford County Superior Court.
Joshua R. Pollis, of 21 Sun Valley Circle, previously pleaded guilty to charges of robbery, theft and criminal mischief in the store incident and burglary, theft, forgery and violation of conditions of release in an unrelated matter.
Justice John Nivison sentenced Pollis to serve one year in prison out of a seven-year sentence as well as three years of probation on the store charges. Pollis was given a consecutive, fully suspended five-year sentence in the burglary incident with two years of probation.
Pollis has been incarcerated since his arrest in January, but defense attorney Ron Hoffman said he would not ask for credit for time served. Assistant District Attorney Joe O’Connor had sought a two-year sentence for Pollis.
Pollis was accused of stealing a cash register and a clerk’s purse from a Big Apple store in January and trying to leave the scene in a car. He was stopped by Officer Dean Benson of the Mexico Police Department and other people at the store.
Pollis was also charged with burglarizing the Mexico residence of a volunteer driver with Community Concepts who had been driving Pollis to a methadone clinic. O’Connor said pills, checks and other items were stolen from the residence. Pollis will be required to pay $461 in restitution to the homeowner.
According to a police report, Pollis said he had been using cocaine prior to the store robbery. In court on Friday, Pollis said he had been having drug problems for the past two to three years and was not in the right state of mind during the crimes.
“I’m trying to recover,” he said. “I’m sober now. It feels good.”
mlangeveld@sunjournal.com