NORWICH MAN SENTENCED FOR DRUG, FIREARM POSSESSION

A Norwich man was sentenced to four years in prison Tuesday for being in possession of crack cocaine and a stolen handgun when police were called to his Laurel Hill Apartment for a domestic disturbance in April 2015.

Thuwesdia Robinson had pleaded guilty in New London Superior Court to possession of narcotics with intent to sell and possession of a stolen firearm.

Two years of the four-year prison sentence is the mandatory minimum sentence for the weapons conviction.

According to Norwich police, Robinson fled on foot after he was involved in a domestic disturbance at 25 Rogers Ave. on April 18, 2015.

Police said they caught Robinson nearby and discovered crack cocaine and a loaded .40-caliber Glock handgun with a high-capacity magazine inside a backpack Robinson had thrown away during the pursuit.

Police said the gun was stolen, along with several others, during a burglary in August 2014.

Robinson, who had faced a maximum of 25 years in prison for the charges, accepted a plea offer worked out between prosecutor Paul J. Narducci and defense attorney Anthony Basilia.

Narducci, noting that Robinson is the victim in another crime being prosecuted in the same court, said the sentence of 14 years in prison, suspended after four years served, followed by four years probation, seemed fair.

Robinson’s name will be added to the state’s deadly weapon offender registry due to the weapons conviction, Narducci said.

While his case was pending, Robinson, free on bond, was allegedly stabbed on July 15, 2015, by Deacon Dahlquist in the parking lot of the Riverview Garage at Mohegan Sun.

“I’m not no bad man,” Robinson told the judge after pleading guilty. He said he takes care of his children.

“I’ve just made some bad decisions,” Robinson said. “I didn’t kill nobody. I didn’t shoot nobody.”

Judge Hillary B. Strackbein told him that if he did kill somebody, he would be going to prison for 60 years. She told him also that as a father, he is supposed to be a role model to his children, who he can’t take care of from prison.

“You want them to sell drugs and guns?” the judge asked.