AUBURN — A man who confessed to brandishing a gun in a Lewiston Chinese restaurant and stealing more than $200 in cash was sentenced Thursday to a year and a half behind bars.

Joseph Tate Pepin, 39, of 128 Campus Ave., Lewiston, pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced in Androscoggin County Superior Court to eight years in prison with all of that time suspended except for 18 months. On a charge of theft by unauthorized taking, he was given an overlapping 90-day sentence. He was ordered to repay the restaurant owners $263.21.

Pepin will report to prison Aug. 7. When he is released, he will be on probation for three years. During that time, he must not have any alcohol, illegal drugs or firearms and dangerous weapons, and must submit to random searches for all of those and to testing for drugs and alcohol.

He must complete psychological and substance abuse evaluation and counseling.

He may not have any contact with the owners of South Seas Chinese Restaurant or return to their restaurant at 260 East Ave. in Lewiston.

Police said Pepin reached into his jacket and showed a black handgun to one of the owners of the restaurant at around 3:45 p.m. on March 3. He demanded the owner open the cash drawer. When she did, he reached in and scooped up the paper currency and ran out the front door. He was seen running onto East Avenue toward Campus Avenue.

A customer who was entering the business to pick up an order identified the suspect.

The owner calculated that $263.21 was missing from the cash drawer.

Police reviewed surveillance footage from cameras at an adjacent business and marked the times Pepin entered and exited the restaurant.

The owner noted a tattoo on the neck of the suspect in her description of him; police files noted that Pepin had a similar tattoo and discovered his last known address was at Campus Avenue.

Police spoke with Pepin’s mother, who said her son was addicted to crack cocaine and had often stolen items from her and had been writing checks on her account. Pepin’s mother told police she felt her son was “volatile and desperate for money.” He had taken her car while she was napping, she said.

Police found her car and pursued Pepin, who fled when he neared the vehicle.

The restaurant owner picked Pepin’s photo from a lineup.

Pepin told police detectives he “really screwed up and admitted to using a black BB gun” to rob the restaurant, according to a police affidavit. He had planned to use a knife, he told police, but decided that “no one is scared of a knife anymore.”

He told police he stole $216 from the restaurant’s cash drawer and used it to “satisfy” his cocaine addiction, police said.

Police found an unloaded black BB gun under the passenger seat of Pepin’s mother’s car.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

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