AUBURN — A Turner man who robbed a convenience store while free on bail for robbing another store was sentenced Wednesday to 3½ years in prison.

Justin Donaldson, 34, was led from Androscoggin County Superior Court in handcuffs, his ankles shackled. At the back of the courtroom, he raised his linked arms over the head of his wife, who was standing to say goodbye. He hugged, then kissed her, before he was escorted through the courtroom doors and back to his jail cell.

Justice MaryGay Kennedy told Donaldson that his devoted wife and three children were mitigating factors in her calculations for deciding on how many years he should spend behind bars.

In the final analysis, she said, the terror he struck in his victims during the robberies, fueled by drug use, outweighed her consideration for his family ties. His wife wept during the sentencing.

Donaldson robbed a Cumberland Farms store at 701 Main St. in Lewiston in September at about 3:30 a.m. He showed a clerk the butt of a handgun and demanded money from her. Police later stopped Donaldson in his getaway car where they found he matched the description given by clerks and police found a black pellet gun.

In March, Donaldson was arrested in connection with a robbery at Schrep’s Corner Store at Route 117 and Center Bridge Road in Turner.

Prosecutors said he walked into the store at about 9 p.m. He went straight to the counter where he told the clerk to open the cash drawer and give him the money in it. His right hand was concealed in his jacket, Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Worden said.

He fled in a car. One of the clerks managed to read part of the license plate number.

Donaldson admitted committing the robbery to an Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department detective, blaming his actions on his drug addiction.

He pleaded no contest to both Class B robberies, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He also was charged with violating condition of release.

Prosecutors were seeking a four-year sentence for the Cumberland Farms robbery; Donaldson asked for six months, roughly the amount of time he has spent in jail.

On the second robbery, both parties agreed on a sentence of eight years, with all of that time suspended, but to be served consecutively with the first, plus three years on probation. That means when Donaldson has completed his prison time, he faces up to eight years more in prison if he were to violate conditions of his probation.

His attorney, Kelly McMorran, painted a picture of a law-abiding family man whose life fell apart emotionally and financially later in life.

“Justin isn’t like most defendants we see,” she said.

Donaldson suffered from substance abuse and a “mood disorder marked by impulsivity,” she said. “There was certainly cocaine-induced psychosis,” she added.

He had been successful in the flooring business, owning a home, boat and snowmobile. But his world began to crumble with the death of his parents, his child by a first marriage contacting him, and financial woes, McMorran said.

He sold his possessions; his home is in foreclosure. He turned to illicit drugs to help cope with his crises, she said.

McMorran said her client needs a long-term inpatient drug rehabilitation program. The judge agreed, urging Donaldson to start with the program offered in prison.

Besides the prison term, Kennedy sentenced Donaldson to eight years, all suspended for the second robbery charge and 30 days for the violation of condition of release, the will be served at the same time as the prison sentence.

“We can’t permit people to do this kind of conduct in our community,” Kennedy told Donaldson. “We just can’t.”

She ordered him to pay $75 in restitution to Cumberland Farms and $660 to Shrep’s.

Although Donaldson’s attorney stressed that nobody at the two stores were physically harmed, Kennedy disagreed that Donaldson inflicted no harm.

“I think that clerk (at Cumberland Farms) was harmed,” Kennedy said. “I think people in that store were harmed.”

She said the sentence she imposed was intended to send a message.

“This really has reached an epidemic level,” she said.