Vape shop robber gets suspended sentence

LACONIA — A man charged with holding up a Busy Corner vape shop almost a year ago received a suspended sentence Tuesday after pleading guilty to a reduced charge.

Thomas Keene, 23, of Main Street, in Francestown, pleaded guilty in Belknap Superior Court, to a charge of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.

Judge Tina Nadeau accepted the terms of the plea, and imposed a suspended 2½- to five year sentence conditioned on four years good behavior. In addition, Keene is required to perform 120 hours of community service within two years, and to submit to regular drug testing for two years.

Keene had been facing a felony charge of armed robbery in connection with the holdup at Smokers Haven, 245 Union Ave., last Dec. 29 in which cash and store merchandise were stolen.

Assistant Belknap County Attorney Keith Cormier, who prosecuted the case, said the plea was arrived at through a settlement conference, and he was not at liberty to offer an explanation of why the sentence was appropriate.

“All I can say is that there were a lot of extenuating circumstances and mitigating factors,” Cormier said after the plea-and-sentencing hearing. He added Cormier had no criminal record.

Cormier told the court that the owner of Smokers Haven was opposed to the plea deal. After the hearing, Cormier said he told the owner that he could either speak at the hearing or submit a victim impact statement which would be read at the hearing on the owner’s behalf.

No one spoke in opposition to the sentence at the 10-minute hearing.

In response to a question from the judge, Keene said he has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression. He told the judge that he takes medication that seems to help him.

At the time of the hold-up, Keene was enrolled in a residential drug treatment program at Riverbank House in Laconia. Cormier said he could not divulge whether Keene is currently in treatment.