Ohio man gets 8 years in $8M heist

By JOE MILICIA

Associated Press Writer

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- The skinny young man in the orange jail jumpsuit had a hard luck story not unlike many Americans.

He grew up in an impoverished single-parent household; he bounced from job to job; he lost his house in foreclosure.

But Roger Dillon's story wildly diverged last year when he committed one of the biggest thefts in state history, stealing about $8 million from an armored car company where he earned $10.25 an hour as a driver.

The crime resulted in eight years in prison for him, three years for his mother and five years for his girlfriend -- the woman he'd hoped to marry.

After eight months in jail, the boyish-faced Dillon, an avid Dungeons & Dragons player with no criminal record, told a federal judge Thursday about the new reality he sees.

"Now that I've had some time away from everything that I held dear to myself, I can't believe I let it all go for the money," he said.

Dillon, 23, and his girlfriend, Nicole Boyd, 25, of Youngstown say they are still in love. Both pleaded guilty in March to bank larceny and other charges, blaming their actions on financial hardship.

"Things seemed hopeless and this seemed like a way out," Dillon said.

Prosecutors noted in a court document that Dillon is considered "something of a folk hero" in economically depressed Youngstown, and asked for tough sentences that would deter others from considering similar crimes.

Dillon and his mother, Sharon Gregory, were sentenced Thursday. Gregory was involved in buying the vehicle used to transport the money and fled with the couple to West Virginia.

U.S. District Judge John R. Adams gave Gregory a lighter sentence because she didn't participate in the actual theft, didn't know the amount of money involved and because of her desperation from a longtime crack addiction.

"I wish I had stopped my son from doing what he did," she tearfully told the judge. "I just didn't stop him and I'm ashamed of that."

Dillon told his mother only that "something big is going to happen," said Gregory's attorney, James Campbell.

Adams sentenced Boyd to five years in prison on Wednesday. Dillon received a longer sentence because he organized the heist at AT Systems in Liberty, just north of Youngstown, recruited others to help him and violated the trust of his employer, Adams said.

Dillon had faced a maximum of 25 years in prison, but received some leniency for taking responsibility for the crime and his lack of a prior criminal history.

John Comello, an investigator for Montreal-based Garda World Security Corp., which owns AT Systems, asked Adams to give Dillon the maximum sentence.

"The trust that was given to Mr. Dillon was completely violated," Comello said.

Dillon used another employee's security code on Nov. 26 to pull a truck into a garage, load it with bags and reset the alarm.

About $6.7 million in cash and more than $1 million in checks was taken; all but $3,500 was recovered. The FBI has said the theft was timed so that large amounts of money would be available after the busy post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend.

Five days later, Dillon, Boyd and Gregory were arrested in Pipestem, W.Va., about 250 miles from the site of the heist. The FBI -- tipped by West Virginia receipts found in Boyd's abandoned pickup truck -- found the loot stacked in a mobile home where the three had holed up.

The piles of money included about $47,000 in dollar bills that Gregory hand-counted.

The trio, notably Dillon, have been ridiculed in Youngstown for not covering their tracks better.

"You've got folks here who watch so much fantasy on TV, they don't consider the consequences of their actions," said assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Arbeznik, who called the sentences fair.

Dillon financed the plan with $50,000 smuggled out of a JP Morgan Chase Bank in Akron on Aug. 8 during an armored-car pickup, according to the plea agreements. He must pay the $50,000 back in restitution along with about $1,400 from the heist.

At sentencing hearings for even the most violent criminals, some family members or friends usually speak on the defendant's behalf, but no supporters attended Dillon's hearing.

Dillon, who will be released from prison before his 31st birthday, hopes to learn a trade while in prison, maybe become an electrician, said his attorney, Brian Pierce.

Dillon ended his statement to the judge by saying he wants to do something productive with his life. He then slowly shuffled to his seat, his legs cuffed together and his head down.