AUBURN — A transient who had been taken in by a Pierce Street couple, later robbing them and bludgeoning one of them during a home invasion, was sentenced Wednesday to serve more than three years in prison.
Michael Hodgkins, 26, was in Androscoggin County Superior Court, where he pleaded guilty to robbery and aggravated assault. Prosecutors dropped charges of burglary and obstructing the report of a crime or injury.
A judge imposed a 10-year sentence on Hodgkins for the robbery, but suspended six-and-a-half years. Hodgkins will be on probation for three years once he is released.
After he is freed, he must have no contact with the victims or his co-defendants. He also will be barred from using alcohol and illegal drugs and will be subject to random searches and testing.
He was sentenced to 10 years on the assault charge, but Justice MaryGay Kennedy suspended that sentence and ordered that it be served at the same time as the robbery.
Prosecutors said Hodgkins barged into the Pierce Street home on March 22, where he and two other men wearing bandanas and gloves and carrying weapons intended to rob the residents of an Xbox video game console and cash.
Hodgkins hit one of the residents with a wrench during the incident, causing the man to black out, Assistant District Attorney Claire Andrews said.
One of the residents tried to call police with a cell phone, but it was taken from her. She was able to use a different phone to call 911 and two of the intruders fled. The residents managed to subdue one of the three men, who was later identified as Hodgkins. The other two men were eventually identified and charged in the incident.
One of the residents told police that Hodgkins was aware that she had received a tax return recently and that the money was in a safe in her bedroom because he had stayed at the home.
Defense attorney Nicholas Worden said he would dispute much of the evidence presented by the prosecutor, but a jury could find Hodgkins guilty if they believed the state’s evidence.
“I am sorry for what happened,” Hodgkins said.
Worden said Hodgkins had no prior felony convictions.
cwilliams@sunjournal.com
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