Man gets 16 years for robbing local businesses

8/8/2018
BY JENNIFER FEEHAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Jerome Jordan has been sentenced to 16 years for a string of robberies in Toledo.
Jerome Jordan has been sentenced to 16 years for a string of robberies in Toledo.

Jerome Jordan hadn’t been in much trouble before he went out and robbed 11 businesses over a two-month period last year.

“You had some contacts as a juvenile, not all good, but this is certainly the worst type of contacts that you’ve had with the system,” Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gary Cook said Wednesday.

The judge sentenced Jordan, 31, of the 2100 block of Warren Street, to 16 years in prison and ordered him to pay restitution totaling $4,960 to the victim businesses.

Jordan entered Alford pleas — not admitting guilt — July 11 to six counts of robbery stemming from armed holdups at gas stations and stores in Toledo last October and November. As part of a plea agreement, Judge Cook dismissed five other counts.

“This string of events that occurred — you understand that each and every one of them was extremely dangerous to the individuals working at the businesses that were being robbed,” Judge Cook told Jordan. “Yourself and your co-defendant being extremely menacing in that situation resulted in an indictment that has 11 counts.”

Jordan’s co-defendant, Rico Wortham, 26, of the 2400 block of Seaman Road, was sentenced in May to 18 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to six counts of robbery.

Jeffrey Crowther, who represented Jordan, told the court this was one of those cases where he just wonders what happened.

He said Jordan was diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome at birth and had struggled in life. When he lost his job last year, he turned to drugs and went on the robbery spree.

“It's hard to fathom,” Mr. Crowther said.

For his part, Jordan apologized, saying he’d made bad decisions about whom to associate with and how to handle a tough time.

“Whatever I get, I just want to live with it and learn from it,” he said.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.