Home invasion nets 12 years in prison

LOWELL — A 46-year-old Groveland man was sentenced to 12 years in prison Monday for his role in a home invasion in Lowell that led to his co-defendant being shot twice in the arm by a responding police officer.

Christopher Covey fled out a back door after his co-defendant Timothy Berry, 49, of Haverhill, was shot by Lowell police Officer Buntha Kieng at a Pine Hill Street apartment on the night of Feb. 6, 2016. Covey was arrested a short time later.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office determined Kieng was justified since Berry allegedly pointed a gun at Kieng as Kieng approached the front door.

Covey and Berry hatched a plan for the home invasion in an effort to steal $20,000 in cash that Thomas Cardona had hidden in his apartment on Pine Hill Street in Lowell. They posed as police officers while forcing their way inside.

Cardona fled the apartment after Covey and Berry burst in, while another man who was in the apartment, Louis Polanco, was held at gunpoint by Covey while Berry searched the apartment for cash, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors in Berry’s trial said the duo assumed Cardona wouldn’t call police, but that they were wrong.

Kieng was the first officer to arrive at the scene after Cardona fled the apartment and called police.

Covey pleaded guilty Monday to home invasion, kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, impersonating a police officer, and two counts of firearm violation with two prior violent/drug crimes, according to court records.

Superior Court Judge Robert Ullmann sentenced Covey to 12 years in prison followed by two years of probation. Ullmann ordered Covey to have no contact with the victim while on probation and to undergo a substance abuse evaluation and any recommended treatment.

Berry was convicted by a jury last month of home invasion, kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm without an FID, and impersonating a police officer. He was acquitted of a count of assault with a dangerous weapon.

Berry has not yet been sentenced, though, because he faces additional trials on charges he is an armed career criminal and habitual offender — and he faces significantly more prison time if he is found to be either.

Berry’s next court date has not yet been scheduled, according to online court records.

Follow Robert Mills on Twitter @Robert_Mills