AUBURN — A Lewiston man was sentenced Tuesday for his role in a 2014 home invasion carried out by three masked and gloved men seeking cash from a tax refund.

Two of the victims of the robbery were assaulted, but Benjamin Parker, 22, of 245 Lisbon St., Lewiston, told the judge in Androscoggin County Superior Court “I was not intentionally hurting anyone.”

A prosecutor dropped a charge of aggravated assault as well as a misdemeanor charge of obstructing report of a crime or injury.

In an agreement with the District Attorney’s Office, Parker entered a guilty plea to a charge of robbery. He was sentenced to five years in prison, with all of that time suspended except for the 376 days he has spent at Androscoggin County Jail awaiting trial. He will be on probation for three years. During that time, he will be required to undergo substance abuse and mental health evaluations and follow any recommendations. He also will be barred from having alcohol or illegal drugs and can be searched at random and tested for each.

Had he been convicted at trial on the robbery charge, he would have faced up to 30 years in prison.

On a burglary charge, he was sentenced to 376 days that he has already served in jail.

Justice MaryGay Kennedy told Parker he was forbidden from having contact with any of the five victims, including Jamie Chapman, whose Pierce Street apartment was the scene of the home invasion. Parker may not have contact with his co-defendants, Michael Hodgkins, 26, a transient, and Zachariah Hardwick, 25, of Lewiston, who was sentenced in May after pleading guilty, like Parker, to robbery and burglary. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended.

According to court records, on March 22, 2014, Hardwick, Hodgkins and Parker forced their way into Chapman’s apartment. They were wearing dark clothes, bandanas across their faces and latex gloves. Chapman told police they were armed with knives and guns.

Immediately after entering the apartment, Hodgkins struck John Lombard, Chapman’s boyfriend, in the head with a wrench he had brought to the apartment. Hodgkins also attacked Chapman’s brother.

Several days before the attack, Chapman had invited Hodgkins to stay in her apartment overnight because he was homeless, police had said. She had received her income tax refund check while he was there, and he saw her place the cash in her safe.

Chapman told police she believed Hodgkins intended to steal her safe.

On the night of the attack, as soon as Hardwick, Hodgkins and Parker arrived at the apartment, Chapman tried calling 911 but one of the men ripped the phone from her hand and broke it in two.

As Hodgkins was hitting Lombard, Hardwick and Parker were searching the apartment for valuables, according to court records.

During the attack, two other men in the apartment — Joshua Burnham and Michael Leeman — were able to restrain Hodgkins until police arrived.

Parker and Hardwick fled, and were later identified by Hodgkins as his accomplices.

Lombard was treated at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for cuts to his arm and injuries to his head.

In September, Parker’s attorney, Lorne Fairbanks, asked the court to order a competency hearing to review Parker’s mental ability to proceed to trial. As part of his request, Fairbanks told the court that Parker “exhibits delusional and unclear thinking” and “has been a harm to himself in the past.”

That order was granted, and Parker was committed for observation. On May 11, when the court heard from Fairbanks that Parker had stopped taking his medications and that Fairbanks believed Parker was no longer competent for trial, Justice Kennedy issued an order forcing Parker to take his medication.

Hodgkins pleaded guilty to robbery and aggravated assault in November, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison with all but 3½ years suspended. He will serve three years probation. Charges of burglary and obstructing the report of a crime were dismissed.

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