Schenectady man due to be sentenced for robbery skips court

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

A man facing a sentence of 12 years to life in connection with a downtown robbery of a homeless man has apparently fled and is now being sought, officials said Thursday.

Mark Brown, 36, of Schenectady, failed to appear in Schenectady County Court for sentencing Thursday. He also failed to appear at a previous date, Feb. 10, his attorney Stephen Rockmacher said.

As a result, Schenectady County Court Judge Richard Giardino issued a warrant for Brown’s arrest.

The judge also issued a new date, March 31. Brown is to be sentenced that day whether he is found by then or not, Rockmacher said.

The judge would also have the option of not going along with Brown’s plea deal and instead sentencing Brown to up to the maximum. Rockmacher believed the maximum to be 15 years to life.

Brown had been free under the supervision of probation since at least last summer, Rockmacher said. Rockmacher attributed that to a deadline for indictment passing.

Prosecutors could not be reached later for comment.

Brown was allowed to stay out pending sentencing, Rockmacher said, because he had kept up contact with probation without problems.

Rockmacher said his last contact with his client was in late January. He has been trying to contact Brown since, attempting to go through family but without success, he said.

Brown pleaded guilty in Schenectady County Court Nov. 30 to one count of second-degree attempted robbery, a felony. The plea came as his trial was about to begin.

Brown’s sentence was increased due to his criminal record, which included a decade-old burglary conviction for which he was sentenced to nine years in state prison.

Two other suspects, with lesser criminal records, pleaded guilty earlier to the same count.

The three admitted to robbing the 58-year-old man April 9, 2010, at about 1 a.m. as the man walked from Scotia back to the City Mission on Hamilton Street in Schenectady.

The man turned onto Broadway from State Street and a group that included Brown began to follow, prosecutors have said.

As the victim crossed Broadway, the group ran him down and started punching him and kicking him, prosecutors said. They also ripped his wallet from his pants.

The victim wasn’t seriously injured but was shaken up.

Prosecutors said the case was helped by a witness who watched as the homeless man was robbed and called police.

Pleading guilty in the case earlier were Nathaniel Edwards, 20, and Kareice Brown, 32. Edwards faced up to three years in state prison.

Kareice Brown, Mark Brown’s brother, was sentenced Thursday. Giardino gave him four years, less than the maximum he could have received under his deal, 41⁄2 years.

During Kareice Brown’s sentencing, his attorney, Joseph Litz, asked for as little as three years. Prosecutor Ed Moynihan suggested four or 41⁄2 years was appropriate.

Giardino ultimately settled on four years.