Published Wednesday, May 12, 1999 Mark J. Nichols, 19, of 479 Independence Court, Sharon, pleaded guilty to stealing Christmas gifts Dec. 24 from a Bradenton, Fla., couple's van parked outside the Radisson Inn in Shenango Township.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Francis J. Fornelli apparently wanted Nichols to know what it's like to be denied gifts at Christmas. In sentencing Nichols to 2 years of probation, the judge on Tuesday ordered Nichols to sell his $2,000 stereo and his $1,800 weight set and turn the proceeds over either to the Goodfellows or The Good News Fund.
The judge asked Nichols if he realized the theft of the gifts could ruin someone's Christmas.
Nichols responded he realized that now and that he was sorry for what he did. He said he and an accomplice were drunk when they broke into the van.
A probable cause affidavit said one of the two men dropped the wrapped gifts on the pavement as Shenango Township police approached them.
Noting that Nichols owned his stereo and weight set, the judge ordered him to sell them to benefit local needy families.
