Man pleads guilty to 2 robberies

9/28/2006

TIFFIN - A Findlay man has pleaded guilty to five felony charges related to robberies he committed in March in Fostoria and been sentenced to nearly five years in prison.

Matthew M. Holman, 29, pleaded guilty to two counts each of aggravated robbery and attempted abduction and one charge of attempted aggravated robbery, Seneca County Prosecutor Ken Egbert, Jr., said. He was sentenced Tuesday by Common Pleas Judge Michael Kelbley to four years in prison for each of the robbery charges, to be served concurrently, and 11 months for the attempted abduction offense.

Holman also was ordered to pay a drug forfeiture of $7,500 to be used by the county's Drug Task Force-METRICH Enforcement Unit.

On March 9, Holman brandished a knife and robbed two Lytle Street businesses, taking $90 from the Circle K convenience store and $190 from the Hong Kong Restaurant, where he also tried to abduct two waitresses during the robbery, Mr. Egbert said.

The next day, he tried to rob the Friendship Sunoco on Sandusky Street by threatening a clerk with a screwdriver, but he fled without getting any money, Mr. Egbert said.

Mr. Egbert said the motive for the robberies was Holman's crack cocaine addiction and connections with Fostoria-area drug dealers.