SALEM — The previous proprietor of a North Salem transmission store, convicted in June of burning the constructing down, was sentenced to 4 years in state jail on Wednesday.
Robert Cole, 54, of Salisbury, the previous proprietor of Superb Transmission at September 11 Franklin St., bowed his head as Salem Superior Court docket Choose Kathleen McCarthy Neyman introduced the sentence.
The Sept. 6, 2017, hearth took hours for firefighters to place out.
The motive: Cole was $29,000 in arrears to his landlord, Goldberg Properties, and about to be evicted. His insurance coverage was about to lapse. Prosecutor Anne Marie Gochis satisfied jurors that Cole set the hearth in a plan to gather on that insurance coverage coverage.
He was discovered responsible of burning a constructing and burning a constructing with intent to defraud an insurer.
“It was a major hearth,” Neyman informed Cole, who had been hoping for a 2½ 12 months jail time period.
Not solely did firefighters should be pulled out of the Franklin Avenue constructing earlier than the roof and second flooring collapsed, however the constructing’s location, in a densely-packed neighborhood of properties and companies, created a danger to others.
The hearth “put many voters vulnerable to severe bodily harm,” Neyman mentioned.
Neyman’s remarks echoed these of the prosecutor, Gochis, who had requested a five- to seven-year state jail time period. She too raised considerations concerning the danger to firefighters and neighbors, and advised the motive was purely monetary.
Cole’s lawyer, Scott Gleason, repeatedly careworn that Cole ended up gaining nothing from the hearth — he by no means went forward with an insurance coverage declare and the hearth didn’t unfold to different properties. “That’s pure hypothesis,” Gleason informed the choose.
He mentioned the worth of the enterprise was in his shopper’s automotive restore abilities and never within the gear that burned — although he additionally acknowledged a number of the Most worthy objects had been moved to a special location earlier than the hearth.
“Is it a horrible act? Certain,” Gleason informed the choose. “He’s a awful man. So what? As a result of he’s a awful man he’s going to get a harsher sentence? I hope not. We’ve bought quite a lot of awful guys on the earth.”
He pointed to sentencing pointers that put Cole in a class of a three- to 30-month jail time period based mostly on the fees and his report.
However Neyman had opened the listening to by telling Gleason she thought of the sentencing pointers to be a bit mild.
She additionally famous {that a} prior jail time period in an unrelated case in 2017 didn’t deter Cole from setting the hearth.
After Cole, who has been in custody because the verdict, serves the four-year jail time period for burning the constructing, he’ll spend two years on supervised probation for the tried insurance coverage fraud.
Among the many situations might be a psychological well being analysis and therapy, in addition to an order that he avoid the placement of the hearth and the house owners of the property.
The sentencing had been scheduled for a number of totally different dates this summer season however was finally moved to Wednesday.
Whereas the trial befell in Lawrence Superior Court docket, the sentencing was moved to Salem, the place the choose is assigned.
Gleason, in the meantime, remains to be hoping to persuade Neyman to put aside the jury’s June 27 verdict. Neyman gave Gochis two weeks to file a response and will schedule a listening to on the request someday after that.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis could be reached at 978-338-2521, by e mail at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis
