HARTFORD — A man whose heroin addiction was so severe he carried out two robberies 10 minutes apart to get money to buy the drug pleaded guilty Thursday to two robberies in Hartford and a bank robbery in West Hartford and faces up to 15 years in prison.
Aric Hale still faces another robbery charge in Superior Court in Rockville.
Hale, 31, pleaded guilty to robbing the Farmington Savings Bank branch on Farmington Avenue in West Hartford on Sept. 9, 2015, the Dunkin’ Donuts shop at 365 Capitol Ave. in Hartford about 7:15 p.m. Sept. 10, 2015, and the Burger King restaurant at 70 Airport Road 10 minutes later.
Under the terms of a plea agreement negotiated by his public defender, Paula Waite, and prosecutor Vicki Melchiorre, he faces up to 15 years in prison and five years of special parole. His lawyer will be able to argue for less prison time when he is sentenced Aug. 4.
Hale pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree robbery, possession of narcotics and second-degree larceny. He pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine to first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery for the Dunkin’ Donuts robbery. With an Alford plea, a defendant disputes some of the state’s claims, but acknowledges the state likely has enough evidence to win a conviction at trial.
The Rockville case is for a Sept. 10 robbery at Nature’s Grocer on Route 30 in Vernon.
