Man gets 20 years in Purple Heart theft

WORCESTER — A Leicester man already serving a 20-year prison term was sentenced to an additional 20 to 22 years behind bars Wednesday for his role in a 2014 home invasion in which a treasured Purple Heart medal was stolen.

Timothy M. Lavin, 39, with a last known address of 11 Hyland Ave., Leicester, was one of two men convicted Feb. 16 of charges stemming from a Jan. 5, 2014, home invasion in Leicester.

Judge Richard T. Tucker sentenced Mr. Lavin Wednesday to 20 to 22 years' imprisonment on related home invasion, armed robbery and firearm charges. Mr. Lavin was facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years on the firearm charges because he was convicted as an armed career criminal, with three prior crimes of violence.

The sentence imposed is to begin after Mr. Lavin completes a 20-year sentence he received in 2014 for a 2010 home invasion and robbery in Worcester. Assistant District Attorney Joseph A. Simmons, the lead prosecutor, told the judge the law required that a consecutive sentence be imposed on Mr. Lavin, because he was out on bail in the earlier case when he committed the 2014 home invasion.

A co-defendant in the case, Nicholas Desiderio, 36, of 50 William St., was sentenced Wednesday to 10 to 12 years in state prison with 5 years of probation to follow. Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Desiderio, who once worked for the homeowner, waited outside to drive the getaway car after the home invasion. He was also believed to have been involved in the planning of the robbery.

A third suspect was never caught.

Three occupants of the Leicester home were bound and gagged during the home invasion, in which jewelry and other items, including a Purple Heart awarded to the father of one of the victims, were stolen. The medal, which was never recovered, was awarded after the recipient, a U.S. Marine, was wounded on Iwo Jima during World War II.

The jury that convicted Mr. Lavin and Mr. Desiderio found Mr. Lavin not guilty on a charge of indecent assault and battery on the homeowner's daughter. Prosecutors said the woman, her father and her boyfriend were tied up during the home invasion.

The homeowner said in an impact statement that he didn't know Mr. Lavin, but felt betrayed by Mr. Desiderio, whom he hired to work for him, bought a car for and set up in an apartment. He said the crime has had a lasting psychological impact on him.

"I look over my shoulder every minute," he told the court.

"It just has impacted everything that I've done," said his daughter. She said she had difficulty sleeping for a year after the home invasion, and had to resign from her job because of stress and lack of sleep.

"I would just never want someone else to feel that way," she told Judge Tucker.

Mr. Simmons recommended that Mr. Lavin and Mr. Desiderio both be sentenced to 25 years to life, and that Mr. Lavin's sentence not begin until he completes the sentence imposed on him in 2014.

The prosecutor said the two suspects posed "a danger to the public."

Mr. Lavin's lawyer, Sean L. Cannon, asked the judge to sentence his client to 15 years to 15 years and a day with probation to follow his release. Mr. Cannon told the judge he believed he had the discretion to make the sentence concurrent with Mr. Lavin's 2014 sentence, and urged him to do so.

Mr. Cannon said Mr. Lavin, a father of three, suffers from anxiety and depression and had a serious drug problem in the past, which he suggested may have been the driving force behind the home invasion.

Mr. Desiderio's lawyer, James J. Kaeding, asked the judge to impose a sentence of 10 to 12 years, with probation to follow. Mr. Kaeding said his client is also a father of three, and that his actions on the night in question were "not the sum total of who this man is."

"I'd like to say I'm really sorry for what happened to that family," Mr. Desiderio said when asked if he wished to address the court.

"This has been a long, hard road for all the people involved, but today made it all worthwhile,"  Leicester Police Chief James Hurley told reporters after the sentences were handed down.

Chief Hurley praised the efforts of Sgt. Paul Doray and Detective Timothy Fontaine, the lead investigators in the case; state police investigators who assisted in the investigation; Mr. Simmons, as well as Assistant District Attorneys Dannon T. Stacer and Nathaniel Beaudoin, who prosecuted the case.

He noted that the stolen Purple Heart has never been recovered, and asked anyone with any knowledge of its whereabouts, including Mr. Lavin and Mr. Desiderio, to contact Leicester police.