Man sentenced in kidnapping, robbery
A Munhall man was sentenced Monday to 7 1 / 2 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping and robbing a pharmacist who was forced to reopen a drug store where prescription drugs, including OxyContin, were stolen.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Lawrence O'Toole, as part of a plea bargain, ordered Nicholas J. Cannavine, 24, of West Run Road, to serve 10 years' probation after his release from prison.
O'Toole sentenced a co-defendant, Evan Yunk, 21, also of Munhall, to 2 1 / 2 to five years in prison and four years' probation. The judge recommended that Yunk, who has no prior criminal record, participate in motivational boot camp, which could cut his term to six months if he completes it successfully.
According to Assistant District Attorney Russ Broman, Cannavine and Yunk accosted a pharmacist at gunpoint Dec. 28, 1999, and forced him to drive back and reopen Sherman's Pharmacy in Munhall. They then stole more than 1,000 pills, including morphine and 550 OxyContin tablets, and $4,770.
The pharmacist was later forced to drive to Swissvale, where the two men got out of his car.
Cannavine apologized yesterday "for the trouble I've caused," adding his only explanation was it was "pure stupidity."
Cannavine also pleaded guilty to assaulting Deputy Sheriffs Ronald Conn and Sean Green, and other police officers in the courthouse June 20 when O'Toole ordered Cannavine be jailed for violating the provisions of house arrest.
O'Toole said Green suffered a knee injury, which required surgery, causing him to miss 30 days of work.
Cannavine also pleaded guilty to escaping later the same day from the old County Jail. Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Sachs said Cannavine knocked a hole in the ceiling with his head and broke a window to escape his cell.
Cannavine was later found hiding in the building, now used as a Common Pleas Court Family Division facility.
O'Toole sentenced Cannavine to concurrent terms for the assaults on Green and Conn.
