LIMA — A 41-year-old man who admitted robbing a Lima gas station at gunpoint and then returned two weeks later to attempt a second robbery at the same location will spend at least 13 years behind bars.
Calvin McGhee, of Lima, was handed that sentence from Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed after pleading guilty last month to robbing the Rich gas station on North Main Street last fall.
Reed said the lengthy sentence, which could be extended by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to 16 years if McGhee fails to abide by rules and regulations while in prison, was based in part on the defendant’s lengthy criminal record and the fact that McGhee was on probation at the time of the gas station robberies.
McGhee was indicted by a grand jury in December on two counts of aggravated robbery, first-degree felonies that included a specification that the Lima man used a firearm during the commission of crime. Another specification labeled McGhee as a repeat violent offender.
Under the terms of a deal with prosecutors, McGhee pleaded guilty to one of the aggravated robbery charges and a three-year gun specification, as well as an amended second-degree felony count of robbery. All other specifications were dismissed as part of the agreement.
Prior to being sentenced on Monday, McGhee admitted a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
“I grew up in an abusive home and I’ve been on drugs my entire life,” the Lima man said. “This is a mistake I made because I was on drugs. I’m gonna change or I’m gonna kill myself.”
According to court documents, Lima police were called Oct. 20, 2019, to the Rich gas station in response to an armed robbery. The suspect was said to be carrying a silver pistol covered in a plastic bag and pointing it at clerks. The incident was captured on in-store video.
McGhee reportedly returned to the gas station on Nov. 3 and again attempted to rob the station, but fled when an employee pushed the store’s panic button to alert police.
Court documents show McGhee admitted to detectives he was the person who robbed the station.
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