It’s jail for man who claimed gambling problem
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A Brookhaven man was sentenced to five to 20 years in a state prison Monday for a series of robberies in Aston and Ridley last summer.
Mark Purcell Middleton,
55, will also have to repay
$7,413 he took from four retail shops at gunpoint using a BB gun and forfeit
$3,908 under the sentence handed down by Common Pleas Court Judge George Pagano.
Middleton entered open guilty pleas to four counts of robbery while threatening serious bodily injury in October. Assistant District Attorney Christopher DiRosato was seeking a cumulative sentence of 15 to
30 years for those offenses, noting there were seven victims and a fair amount of sophistication involved.
The four robberies occurred between July 9 and August 26, 2019. The first three were in a tight geographic area of Aston, where Middleton robbed a Dollar Tree, Big Lots and Family Dollar. DiRosato said in each of those cases, Middleton entered the stores near closing time, displayed a handgun and demanded the employees give him money.
He struck the manager of the Big Lots when that man hesitated to give him the contents of a safe and cash deposits for the day, according to DiRosato. At least one victim also continues to receive counseling for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the robbery she went through, according to the prosecutor.
The fourth robbery at a Family Dollar in Ridley on Aug. 26 occurred in the morning. DiRosato said in that case, Middleton waited for the only other shopper in the store to leave, then locked the door and demanded cash from the employee at gunpoint. He took more than $4,000 in that robbery.
DiRosato said Middleton also demanded that employees either give him their cell phones or told them to discard them, which assisted in his getaway. Two other robberies fitting the same description are currently being investigated by police, he added.
Defense attorney Daniel Pallen asked for a more lenient sentence, arguing his client’s actions were the result of a gambling addiction. He said Middleton had the knowledge and language of someone who gambles and that he honestly believed the robberies stemmed from Middleton getting himself into a deep financial hole.
“It’s just a very sad case because it didn’t have to happen this way,” Pallen said. “Perhaps if Mr. Middleton had gotten some help and headed into Gamblers Anonymous or one of those programs, he would have recognized that he was in the grips of a progressively insidious illness and that that illness would ultimately lead him either to jail or to insanity.”
DiRosato was less convinced by the gambling explanation, arguing he had not seen other telltale signs of addiction like large cash advances on credit cards and thefts from family members.
But Middleton said he had taken those advances, maxing out his credit cards, and had gotten behind on rent and lost his car while he was “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” He also apologized to his victims and family members Monday, saying his judgment had been clouded by his wins.
“I would like all of you to know that contrary to your beliefs and my actions, that I am not a monster or soulless heathen who does not respect or value the lives of others,” he said. “Just like most of you, I am a husband, a father, a grandfather, a brother and a son – a mere man who has fallen prey to a force greater than myself.”
Judge Pagano said the sentence would have to be reasonable and balanced between punishment and rehabilitation, but imposed in a fair way.
“This isn’t easy for any of us,” Pagano told Middleton. “I take no joy in putting people in jail, but I think you recognize what you did is wrong and there has to be some accountability for that.”
In addition to prison time, Middleton was ordered to stay away from the victims and stores impacted, and provide a DNA sample to state police. He is not eligible for early release on good time, but was given credit for time served back to August 27, 2019.