Elyria man gets 9 years in prison for 2 armed robberies in October

ELYRIA — An Elyria man will spend at least the next nine years in prison for robbing a man and a gas station in Elyria at gunpoint in October. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Chris Cook sentenced Antonio Cook of East Avenue to nine to 10½ years in state prison on Monday for the two robberies last fall. Antonio Cook, who smiled for the camera several times when a Chronicle-Telegram photographer took his picture, told Judge Cook that he wanted to stick with his guilty plea when asked if he was sure he wanted to admit to the crimes. "I'll take the nine years," he said. Antonio Cook, 20, pleaded guilty in March to aggravated robbery and kidnapping, with firearm specifications, and misdemeanor theft for the Oct. 7 daytime robbery behind the McDonald's on Broad Street in downtown Elyria. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, a felony with firearm specifications, and theft, a misdemeanor, in the Oct. 8 armed robbery of the TrueNorth gas station on Lorain Boulevard in Elyria. Judge Cook ordered Antonio Cook to pay $450 restitution to the victim in the McDonald's robbery. Antonio Cook told Judge Cook he planned to get his GED and go to barber school while in prison. Judge Cook encouraged him to do that. The two men are not related, Judge Cook noted during an earlier court hearing. The sentencing hearing was continued several times between March and when it was finally held Monday. Judge Cook said it was delayed so he and the parties could figure out legal issues related to the minimum prison sentence, whether the prison time was mandatory and whether Antonio Cook's firearms specifications and robbery sentences should run consecutive, meaning back-to-back, or concurrent, meaning at the same time. "There's a lot of gray area here," Judge Cook said. Judge Cook said some of the legal matters affecting Antonio Cook's sentence are on appeal in a Cuyahoga County case pending before the Ohio Supreme Court. The robberies happened within the span of 12 hours on Oct. 7-8, and one of the two robberies allegedly also involved Antonio Cook's brother, Jeremiah Cook. In the McDonald's robbery on Oct. 7, Jeremiah Cook allegedly lured the victim behind the restaurant, where Antonio Cook pulled a gun on him and robbed him. The victim then walked about 500 feet to the Elyria Police Department on West Avenue to report the robbery. Just about 3 a.m. the following morning, Elyria police officers responded to a call about an armed robbery at the TrueNorth Gas Station at 905 Lorain Blvd. Witnesses told police that a man dressed in all black with a black ski mask on showed a handgun, took money from the cash register and ran away. Antonio and Jeremiah Cook were quickly identified as suspects, with Antonio Cook arrested the following day at his grandmother's house, where police also found the gun, clothes and money linked to the robberies. Jeremiah Cook was arrested a week later in Lorain. Elyria police said he admitted to the McDonald's robbery but denied involvement in the TrueNorth robbery. Jeremiah Cook, 21, also of East Avenue, is free on bond. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated robbery and kidnapping, both felonies with specifications, and a misdemeanor theft charge in the McDonald's robbery. His next pretrial hearing is June 1, also in Judge Cook's courtroom. A trial date will be set at that time. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.