The attorney for a Southwest Greensburg man told a Westmoreland County judge on Friday that his client was suicidal and in pain when he pointed a gun at staff at Hayden’s Pharmacy and demanded drugs.
Gregory J. Cervo, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, theft and flight from apprehension in connection an armed heist of pain medication from the Youngwood store.
“He has a long, tortured medical history and as a result it got him addicted to opiates,” said defense attorney Dennis Rafferty. “His actual intent was to commit suicide because of his 30 surgeries before.”
Police said Cervo wore a mask when he stormed into the pharmacy on June 16, 2019, pointed a gun at staff and demanded narcotics. He left the store with three bottles each of morphine and oxycodone pills.
He traveled to Ohio, where he was arrested near Canton and charged with drug possession involving the substances he was alleged to have stolen from the Youngwood pharmacy.
Assistant District Attorney Allen Powanda said Cervo served a three-year jail sentence in Ohio for drug possession and was released from custody in September 2022.
As part of a negotiated plea deal, prosecutors recommended Westmoreland County Court Judge Tim Krieger impose a state prison sentence for Cervo that will require him to serve at 38 months (just over three more years) to 10 years behind bars and an additional five years on probation.
Powanda said Cervo will get credit for the three years he served in an Ohio jail, but that it will be up to the Pennsylvania state parole board to determine when he is released from custody for the Hayden’s robbery.
“We will not oppose his parole upon his serving his minimum (sentence),” Powanda said.
The prosecutor said Cervo’s medical issues as well as his good behavior since being released from custody prompted the call for a mitigated sentence.
The judge ordered Cervo, who has been free on bail, to report to prison March 3.
