Revere man gets 9 years for Swampscott robbery

SALEM – A convicted Revere felon who admitted stealing $991 from a Stop & Shop in Swampscott after passing a note that read, “Give me your money or I?ll kill you,” is headed to prison for up to nine years.Anthony Graciale, 42, last known address of 4 Warren St., in Revere, changed his plea to guilty Tuesday afternoon in Salem Superior Court.He pleaded guilty to unarmed robbery and malicious destruction of property over $250 before Judge David A. Lowy.The judge sentenced Graciale to serve not less than six years and not more than nine years in state prison.Once he gets out prison, Graciale will be on probation for the next five years and will receive mental health counseling and must comply with any prescribed medications ordered for his bipolar mental illness. He will receive alcohol counseling and treatment as deemed necessary, have random breath tests, must refrain from all alcohol use, attend four Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meetings weekly and stay away from the Stop & Shop in Swampscott.Restitution will be determined at a later date.Shortly before 10 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2006, Graciale walked up to the service counter at the Stop & Shop in Vinnin Square and handed the threatening note to the woman behind the counter.The frightened store clerk handed over $991 in small bills and Graciale headed for the door. He fled from the parking lot in a white Ford pick-up truck and headed for Lynn.Police later found the truck parked in a driveway on Autumn Street in Lynn.Authorities learned Graciale had called for a cab to pick him up on Lewis Street at a bar. As the Tom?s taxi driver started driving him to a hotel on Route 1, police surrounded the cab at the corner of Western Avenue and Chestnut Street in Lynn where they arrested Graciale.The employee then identified him as the man who robbed the store.While being held at the Swampscott Police station, Graciale then tried to pull a light fixture and a steel bed from the wall and tore a toilet off the floor while he was being housed for the night before being arraigned in Lynn District CourtThe sentence imposed is less than the 10-to-12-year prison term sought by Assistant District Attorney Joseph F. Collins.Collins said it was based on his prior record and prior conviction of armed robbery in 1997, but Lowy pointed out that if Graciale does not comply with the probationary terms, he is facing a potential life sentence.Lowy acknowledged that the commonwealth?s proposal was “certainly reasonable,” but he is “hoping” Graciale will be a success.The judge credited Graciale the 133 days he has spent in jail awaiting trial on the case.