Syracuse, NY - A Georgia man accused of terrorizing an elderly Manlius couple during a break-in at their home Easter Sunday admitted his guilt today. Mark Rolland, 43, of Macon, pleaded guilty before Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey to a single felony count of first-degree burglary in the April 4 incident at the victims' home in the Wildwood Ridge...
Mark A. RollandSyracuse, NY - A Georgia man accused of terrorizing an elderly Manlius couple during a break-in at their home Easter Sunday admitted his guilt today.
Mark Rolland, 43, of Macon, pleaded guilty before Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey to a single felony count of first-degree burglary in the April 4 incident at the victims' home in the Wildwood Ridge Apartments on Highbridge Street.
Under terms of the plea deal, Fahey agreed to sentence Rolland to serve 15 years in state prison. Sentencing is set for June 24.
According to Assistant District Attorney Kari Armstrong, Rolland first encountered the victims at a car wash in DeWitt that Sunday. That was a friendly encounter but Rolland then began following the couple without their knowing it, the prosecutor said.
Authorities later found out Rolland first followed the couple to the nearby Kmart store on Erie Boulevard East where he was seen trailing them in the store, Armstrong said. He then followed them to their home.
When the 82-year-old wife answered a knock on the door, Rolland talked his way inside, Armstrong said.
Rolland put the wife in the bathroom and was going through the apartment when he was confronted by the 90-yearold husband, police said.
Rolland armed himself with a wooden broom handle, but the husband was able to wrestle it away from Rolland and use it to knock the intruder to the floor, authorities said. Rolland fled when the wife then came out of the bathroom and began screaming for help, police reported.
Rolland could have faced up to 25 years in state prison for the crime. But Armstrong said the plea deal spares the victims from the trauma of having to relive the crime through a trial.
"This was a very difficult thing for them to go through," the prosecutor said, adding the couple was prepared to testify against Rolland at trial if necessary.
Armstrong said she didn't know why Rolland was in the area. Defense lawyer Theodore Stenuf said Rolland has relatives here and in Georgia.
Stenuf also said he believed Rolland had a substance abuse problem. But the lawyer said he did not think Rolland targeted the victims based on their age.
Rolland and a second person, Laquishia R. Spivey, 21, also of Macon, were arrested the following day as they were checking out of a DeWitt hotel. Authorities said Spivey had nothing to do with the incident in the victims' home.
» See previous coverage of this story on syracuse.com