A Sharon man will be serve prison time on accusations of attempted murder and armed robbery last year.
Jason Michael Riley, 49, was sentenced to 11 years and five months to 30 years in prison on a charge of criminal attempted murder in the first degree Friday morning by Mercer County Common Pleas Judge D. Neil McEwen.
Riley will also be required to pay restitution of $318.04 to a victim and to serve 6 to 12 years in prison on robbery charge. This sentence will be served concurrently with the prison time sentenced for the attempted murder charge.
Both sentences will be followed by a 12-month supervised reentry period, McEwen said. Riley received credit for 276 days already served in Mercer County Jail.
The charges stem from a non-fatal stabbing in Hempfield Township and armed robbery Aug. 5, 2022, in Hermitage.
During the sentencing, Riley said that, for what it was worth, he was sorry for his actions and that the incidents “should’ve never happened.”
McEwen said Riley needed to change who he was by the time he left prison for his apology Friday morning to have meaning.
“If you have not changed when you get out, then your remorse, your apology, means nothing,” McEwen told Riley.
Riley pleaded guilty April 10 to the charge of attempted murder and no contest to the robbery charge during his court appearance.
According to the Mercer County District Attorney’s office, Riley stabbed a victim seven times with a screwdriver at the Walmart in Hempfield Township in the early morning hours of Aug. 5. The victim’s injuries were non-life-threatening.
Later that same morning, Riley was involved in a second incident at the Hermitage Dollar Tree store at 1950 E. State St.
Hermitage police said Riley waited in a van outside of the Dollar Tree and grabbed a victim waiting to be let inside the store. Riley held the victim in a bear hug and demanded money, and when the victim screamed, Riley covered their mouth and threatened the victim with the screwdriver.
The victim gave Riley their purse, and when the victim’s co-workers came to the front of the store, Riley fled in his vehicle.
The van used by Riley was the subject of an unauthorized-use complaint filed by the Sharon Police Department. The van’s owner told police Riley took the van the day before to get cigarettes and other items, but never returned.
The van was found later that day on Aug. 5 in Ohio at Truck World by a Hubbard Township police officer, and Riley was arrested. Officers found two yellow-handled screwdrivers on the van’s passenger seat.
Police said the van’s owner and the victim of the Dollar Tree robbery identified Riley as the suspect after being shown photos of Riley by police.
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