GREENFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A judge has sentenced a former Springfield flower shop owner to six years in jail for several armed home break-ins during the 2011 Christmas season.
The Springfield Republican reports 49-year-old Nancy Gehrung's lawyer and one of her alleged victims urged Judge Mary-Lou Rup to be compassionate because of Gehrung's psychological problems. Rup allowed her to serve her sentence in a county facility instead of state prison.
Gehrung pleaded guilty to charges including armed assault, armed robbery, armed entering in the nighttime to commit a felony and larceny over $250. She apologized in court.
She faces Connecticut charges alleging she stole a gun from a police officer's car and robbed an Enfield package store.
Prosecutors said Gehrung broke into homes in Holyoke, Northampton and Williamsburg, and one family found her next to their Christmas tree with a pistol.