FARMINGTON — A Lewiston man pleaded guilty Wednesday to binding a 75-year-old Jay man’s hands behind his back and making him lie face down on his bed while he and another defendant robbed him in June 2015.
Daniel J. Leet, 34, who has been held in jail on $25,000 cash bail since July 2015, pleaded guilty to felony charges of robbery and theft and a misdemeanor count of criminal restraint in Franklin County Superior Court. A felony charge of burglary was dismissed in a plea agreement.
The plea agreement on the robbery charge is for 13 years in prison with all but 45 months suspended and four years of probation, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Robbins told Justice William Stokes.
Sentencing was set for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 15, in Superior Court.
The court had been scheduled to select a jury Thursday for Leet’s trial.
Leet and co-defendant Eric S. Hafford, 35, formerly of Livermore Falls, pried open the front door of the home to gain entry at about 11:30 p.m. June 28, 2015, according to state evidence in the case.
The victim would have testified, if the case had gone to trial, that he was awoken in his bedroom by two masked men, who used packing tape to tie his hands behind his back and made him lie face down, Robbins said.
The men stole his wallet, which contained a debit card, his cellphone and some of his valuable coin collection, according to Jay Detective Michael Mejia.
The victim turned over a game camera to police that captured the images of two men. The victim told police that he overheard one of the robbers say, “Tell Becky to get the car,” according to Mejia’s affidavit filed with the court.
Police put the images of the two men out to the public to identify them and police received tips.
Testimony would have been heard that DNA was collected at the site as well as a white glove found on the grass and footprints.
Jay police had the victim’s cellphone pinged and it came back to being in Lewiston, according to testimony that would have been heard, Robbins said.
Images that matched the description of the men, dumping coins into a Coinstar machine in Auburn, were caught on a surveillance camera, according to Mejia’s affidavit.
The men used the victim’s debit card at two ATMs in Lewiston and Auburn, where $516 was stolen from the account, Mejia had written.
Hafford pleaded guilty in January to the same charges as Leet. Hafford was sentenced to serve six years of a 15-year sentence on the robbery charge.
Hafford was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution on behalf of the victim, Robbins said. Leet will be ordered to share in the payment of the restitution when he is sentenced, Robbins said.
He said the victim has been contacted and is satisfied with the plea deal.
A third suspect, Amanda Cote, 39, of Livermore Falls, is accused of being the getaway driver and helping to plan the robbery. A jury is scheduled to be selected for her trial Thursday morning.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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