Fri Feb 10 2012
By Dave O’Brien | Staff Writer
A Brimfield man sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison on burglary charges told a judge that his drug problem was to blame for his crimes.
Derek A. Cope, 22, was sent to prison for six years by Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman after pleading guilty in July to one count of felony burglary and two counts of felony breaking and entering. The sentence was recommended by the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office and includes six years on the burglary charge with one year on each of the breaking and entering charges to run concurrent to each other and the burglary sentence.
Defense attorney John P. Alexander Jr. said it was “pretty clear (Cope) has a significant drug problem.”
Cope “was, in his terms, ‘dope sick,’ seeking money to buy drugs. There were a number of charges here, and treatment was not really a real option for Mr. Cope,” Alexander said. “In his defense, once approached by police, he did cooperate with police, and they took him around and he showed them places he had done.”
Cope apologized in court “to all my victims for all the trouble I put them through.” He said his drug problem started when he was 15, and he stole from friends and family to feed his addiction.
“I lost my son, my fiancee and my dad because of the drug use,” Cope said.
“And now your freedom,” Pittman said.
She also ordered Cope to pay a $300 fine, make restitution of $137 to his victims within five years and have no contact with his victims. She also told him to take advantage of educational opportunities while in prison, promising to consider him for early release after three years.
Cope, who lived at 1300 Brimfield Drive, Apt. D-1, pleaded guilty to an April 22 burglary and two break-ins, one on April 24 and one on April 20. He was initially suspected of more than 20 such break-ins in Brimfield, the majority of which occurred on Sherman, Lynn, Howe and Sunnybrook roads.
Items Cope and John W. Cottrill, 35, stole included a Chevrolet S-10 truck, bicycles, a go-cart, a dirt bike, a motor scooter, tools and computer gear.
Cottrill, who lived with Cope at the Brimfield Drive address, was sentenced Aug. 23 to five years in prison.
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