ORWELL — An Orwell man was sentenced to seven years in jail for his role in the armed robbery of the Maplefields convenience store in Fair Haven back on Sept. 30, 2015.
Matthew Hinton, 28, previously pled guilty to this robbery, as well as to possessing a stolen firearm, which he had stolen during an Orwell burglary a few days before the robbery.
U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss on Feb. 8 also sentenced Hinton to three years of supervised release that will follow his prison sentence. She also ordered Hinton to pay $2,150 in restitution to the Orwell burglary victims and $200 in restitution to Maplefields.
Federal prosecutors said Hinton, on Sept. 28, 2015, broke into a home on Daigneault Hill Road in Orwell and stole, among other things, a Ruger .357-caliber revolver.
Two days later, at about 2:30 a.m., Hinton entered the Maplefields convenience store in Fair Haven and pointed the Ruger revolver at the store clerk in a threatening manner and demanded that she open the cash register drawer, according to federal officials. He then took $80 of cash, demanded two cartons of cigarettes and told the clerk to get on the floor and stay down.
According to court records, the store clerk still suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder stemming from the armed robbery.
Separately, Hinton recently pleaded guilty to state charges involving three burglaries in Orwell and Shoreham on Sept. 28, 2015, and he was sentenced to 4-10 years in prison. Hinton, who has been in state custody since Sept. 30, 2015, will not get credit for that imprisonment toward his federal jail time.
At that point, his federal sentence and state sentences will run concurrently.
In addition, Hinton has a pending state charge for escape from custody (furlough) in Rutland County brought by the Rutland County State’s Attorney.