Former NK pizza restaurant manager must repay money

Most of a 10-year prison sentence imposed on a former manager at a New Kent pizza restaurant has been suspended, but the defendant must pay back the more than $5,000 he embezzled from the store.

Robin H. Register, 22, of 305 Arlington St., Ashland, pleaded guilty in New Kent Circuit Court during a Jan. 4 trial to one count of embezzlement, stemming from $5,377.75 he took over a seven-month period from the cash register at Domino’s Pizza in The Corner @ Rock Creek development on Route 60.

The crime carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, but under terms of a plea deal, punishment was to be consistent with the state’s sentencing guidelines. At Register’s sentencing on May 17, prosecutor Linwood Gregory said guidelines in Register’s case recommend time behind bars in the one day to six months range.

Following the plea deal terms, Judge Thomas B. Hoover sentenced Register to 10 years in prison with all but two months suspended for the next 20 years. The defendant will be given credit for time already served.

Register appeared in court for sentencing on March 15, but Hoover granted defense attorney Martin Mooradian’s request for his client to undergo evaluation to determine competency for sentencing.

Gregory, meanwhile, noted that Register has a history of psychological problems and alcoholism.

Hoover ordered a drug screening that day, and the test yielded positive results for marijuana. The judge revoked Register’s bond, ordering the defendant held in jail until last week’s sentencing. The psychological evaluation, meanwhile, determined Register to be competent for sentencing.

Thus far, $1,406 has been paid back to the restaurant’s owner, Ashland Pizza Inc., by withholding paychecks that the company owed Register. A balance of just over $3,970 remains.

Gregory said Register took an estimated $60 to $100 per day on about 50-75 occasions beginning when the restaurant opened in September 2008 until April 2009. When confronted by ownership, the defendant admitted taking the money, saying he used the cash to pay bills.