A Holland man was sentenced to 68 to 108 months in prison after an armed robbery in Douglas that left the clerk still feeling effects months later.
Matthew Wayne Kimber, 37, was sentenced on one count of armed robbery Monday, Nov. 27, in Allegan County Circuit Court.
Judge Kevin Cronin said, “Apparently the defendant entered a convenience store where this robbery occurred and, according to the report, threatened to shoot the place up or shoot employees there.”
Cronin said the report made it clear Kimber had an opioid addiction that had contributed to his crime.
Kimber was arrested April 19 and charged with armed robbery in the April 7 incident at Lakeshore Convenience in Douglas.
Paul Klein, Kimber’s lawyer, said his client understood he’d done wrong.
Klein said, “He’s never shied away from his actions in this case. He understands he did wrong, he understands many people were negatively affected, he understands he put people at risk, he put himself at risk and committed a very serious crime.”
The lawyer said he also thought his client had the correct perspective on his addictions.
“He was significantly affected by alcohol and heroin,” Klein said. “He’s never mentioned that to me as an excuse.”
Klein said his client had himself in a good place in life, working and being a full time father to his two children.
“He became addicted to opioids after a medical condition and could not control it,” Klein said.
In jail, he said his client had taken advantage of treatment programs and was in a position to recover while he was in prison.
Speaking to the court, Kimber said, “I’d like to sincerely say that there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t regret my actions.”
He said he’d learned from past mistakes, including several misdemeanor convictions.
“I’ve never duplicated a crime, so I have confidence I’ll get through this, too,” Kimber said.
He said he was going to be a grandfather soon.
Allegan County assistant prosecutor Myrene Koch summarized the victim’s impact statement.
“The victim says she feels violated and uncomfortable in a familiar place,” Koch said. “Whenever she turns her back on a customer, her heart races...
“The defendant threatened her life two times and she feels he should do some prison time.”
The clerk feels extreme fear and anxiety, Koch said, and her family does too when she goes to work.
“That will have an impact beyond any sentence the court may give today,” Koch said.
Before handing down his sentence, Cronin said Kimber was young enough that if he could get treatment he could get out of prison and have another 30 or 40 years of life after.
“We can’t have local business people facing a presumed gun, even if it’s just a finger in the pocket,” Cronin said. “Of course, there’s a witness here who swears 100 percent that she saw the butt and hammer of a real live gun.
“We may never know and it makes no difference legally.”
He said the effect on the victim needed to be understood.
Cronin said, “Now, the place feels threatening. She sees a guy in a hoodie and it makes her feel anxious.”
The judge said even a pretend gun could kill someone in that situation, if the stress gave them a heart attack or some other medical emergency.
“It could really be all it takes, for a person like me who’s 69 years old, faced with that even if it’s a finger or a toy gun, that’d be all it took.”
Cronin said he’d entered into what is called a Cobbs Agreement which called for him to promise Kimber his minimum sentence would be no more than 72 months in prison in exchange for a guilty plea.
During the hearing, Cronin reduced a variable used to create the advisory sentencing guidelines in the case.
Prosecutors argued that Kimber hadn’t turned himself in quickly when he’d found out police wanted to question him about the robbery.
“I don’t believe he has a duty to do that unless they have a warrant for his arrest and he is in their immediate vicinity,” Cronin said.
Cronin ordered Kimber to pay $1,210 in restitution and gave him credit for 223 days already served.
Contact Dan Pepper at dpepper@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534.
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