AUGUSTA — A 24-year-old robbed an Augusta dry cleaning store last August and stole $102. Now, in addition to paying restitution, Paul G. Fazzi, formerly of Augusta and more recently of Pittston, will serve an initial 16 months in prison with the remainder of the six-year sentence suspended during three years of probation.
Fazzi and Daysha Hannan, 21, of Manchester, both were arrested and charged with the Aug. 11, 2015, robbery of Grondin’s Certified Cleaners as well as an Aug. 13, 2015, robbery of the Big Apple convenience store on Stone Street. The two suspects were arrested about an hour after the second robbery was reported.
Fazzi pleaded guilty Monday at a hearing at the Capital Judicial Center to the robbery at Grondin’s on Chapel Street and to a related charge of theft by unauthorized taking.
Separate charges of robbery and theft related to the Big Apple robbery were dismissed by the prosecutor’s office in exchange for Fazzi’s pleas as well as for reasons of insufficient evidence, according to documents filed in court.
Hannan is charged with the two robberies, and she is scheduled to be in court on those charges on March 15.
Augusta police allege Hannan handed a note to an employee at Grondin’s threatening violence if the employee didn’t give her money. The pair had visited the cleaners earlier and asked about the services, Augusta Police Lt. Chris Massey said at the time.
While police still were looking for the two suspects, a similar robbery was reported around two days later at the Stone Street convenience store. Hannan, with a blue bandanna covering her face, allegedly handed a similar note to an employee, saying she had a weapon, Massey said at the time.
In a separate hearing Monday also at the Capital Judicial Center, Lindsay D. Fortin, 27, of Augusta, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft by deception involving $45,227 in welfare benefits over a two-year period. She was sentenced to an initial 11 months in prison and the remainder of the three-year sentence was suspended. She also was placed on two years’ probation.
According to the indictment, Fortin received that money in the form of funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, MaineCare, and Temporary Aid to Needy Families programs by falsely claiming that her minor son lived with her.
Fortin was ordered to repay $45,227 which she received between September 2011 and July 2013.
She also was charged with failure to pay $555 of a fine for a conviction on unlawful possession of drugs.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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