A former Lackawanna College student could spend up to four years in state prison for two strong-arm robberies in Scranton.
Lackawanna County Judge Vito P. Geroulo sentenced Jihadd Linney, 18, to two to four years in prison for pointing a BB gun that looked like a 9 mm pistol at a man's chest on Nov. 2 and assaulting a 14-year-old boy on Nov. 16 to scare them into handing over their belongings.
A contrite Mr. Linney appeared in Lackawanna County Court on Wednesday in shackles to tell the judge he was "extremely sorry" and that he had made an "error of judgment."
"You should have been concentrating on your studies," Judge Geroulo shot back.
According to city police, the first robbery happened when Mr. Linney and a fellow Lackawanna College student, Christopher Young, 19, approached a man in the area of Monroe Avenue and Vine Street in the city's Hill Section in the early on Nov. 2.
Mr. Linney pointed the BB gun at the victim's chest, making him to turn over his cellphone, $17 and a pack of cigarettes, police said.
While a pre-sentencing investigation revealed the victim was not injured, the judge said the robbery deeply traumatized the victim.
"You sure pulled a trigger emotionally," Judge Geroulo told Mr. Linney of Paterson, N.J., who stood before the judge wearing a tan prison jumpsuit.
The college expelled both students, a spokeswoman said.
"Lackawanna College fully cooperated with the Scranton Police Department in connection with this matter," college spokeswoman Wendy Evans said. "Lackawanna College has a zero-tolerance policy for any actions of this kind."
In the second robbery on Nov. 16, police said Mr. Linney and an unidentified man approached the teenage boy on the 100 block of Olive Street, then choked him, slammed him on the ground and threatened to shoot him if he refused to turn over his cellphone.
After the robbery, Mr. Linney used the cellphone several times, police said.
He confessed to both crimes and later pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, a felony.
He has been held at the Lackawanna County Prison since his arrest in December in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Mr. Young pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking, a felony, for his role in the robbery. Court records indicate he is awaiting sentencing.
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