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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A homeless man will spend up to 13 years behind bars for robberies in Wilkes-Barre and Kingston that he said he pulled off to maintain his heroin addiction.</p><p>Richard Alan Della Croce, 45, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/676971/homeless-heroin-addict-pleads-guilty-to-convenience-store-robberies" target="_blank">pleaded guilty in late September</a> to robbing three convenience stores.</p><p>In total, Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. sentenced Della Croce on Tuesday to between 6 1/2 and 13 years in state prison.</p><p>Della Croce admitted that he began his crime spree &#8220;to not get sick&#8221; because he was a heroin addict and needed money to support his habit, authorities say.</p><p>Della Croce&#8217;s spree began Feb. 11 at the Sunoco on Kidder Street in Wilkes-Barre. Threatening the cashier with a syringe, he got away with $110.</p><p>He was sentenced to 30 to 60 months in state prison for this charge, plus must pay restitution to the store.</p><p>On Feb. 12, he robbed the Convenience Corner on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre with a large knife, getting away with $780 there.</p><p>He ended his spree at the Pantry Quik on Wyoming Avenue in Kingston, where he told the cashier &#8220;don&#8217;t be afraid, I&#8217;m sick,&#8221; court papers say. He got away with $200 that time.</p><p>For the Convenience Corner and Pantry Quik cases, Della Croce was sentenced to 48 to 96 months, to run concurrently with each other but consecutive with his term for the Sunoco heist.</p><p>He will also be facing two years of probation on related charges, including possession of heroin.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Della Croce </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_web1_Dellacroce-Richard-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Della Croce </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Homeless man to serve up to 13 years for robberies in Wilkes-Barre, Kingston