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Pasco 18-Year-Old Gets 10 Years For Robbery

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By TODD LESKANIC

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 25, 2008

  Derek Derousse

DADE CITY - Derek Derousse might have had a chance for a lenient sentence had his life been free of trouble before 2007.

As it was, the 18-year-old Wesley Chapel man had a criminal record dating to 2002. Of even more concern to Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa was the escalating nature of his crimes.

The pattern reached an alarming level about 2:30 a.m. on March 11, 2007. That's when authorities say Derousse jumped from a car, pointed a gun at Jade Obenski and demanded money from him. Seconds later, Derousse was driving away with Obenski's $100.

On Wednesday, Derousse paid a severe price for the holdup when Siracusa sentenced him to 10 years in prison. He pleaded no contest to the crime July 29.

A gasp went up from Derousse's family as Siracusa announced the sentence; standard sentencing guidelines called for a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Derousse was 12 when he was first arrested. The charges seemed less serious at first: burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, arson of an unoccupied dwelling, larcenies and burglaries.

Despite sanctions from the juvenile court system, Derousse couldn't seem to right himself.

He got into trouble again in 2006, when he was arrested for grand theft of a motor vehicle, burglary, aggravated battery and other charges. He pleaded no contest to the charges in February 2007, and Siracusa agreed to cap his sentence at 38 months.

Five days before he was to be sentenced in that case, Derousse was charged with robbing Obenski. Despite the pleas of his attorneys - who asked for leniency based on his drug use and learning disability - Siracusa said he couldn't ignore Derousse's pattern of behavior.

"I can't wait until someone's dead to deliver the message the Legislature is trying to send," Siracusa said. "That message, I think, is they want to be tough on gun crimes."

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (727) 815-1084 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

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