After sentencing delay, gang member to serve 12-to-14 years

SALEM – An alleged gang member who admitted brutally attacking a developmentally disabled man as he robbed him of his cell phone and also confessed to slashing two inmates at the Middleton Jail may serve up to 14 years in state prison.Devin Sheehan-Powers, 21, formerly of 102 Pearl St., #3, Charlestown, changed his innocent plea to guilty in August to charges of mayhem, armed robbery, possession of cocaine, resisting arrest, assault with intent to maim, armed assault with intent to murder as well as two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon before Judge Howard J. Whitehead.Sentencing, however, had been delayed after Whitehead ordered that Sheehan-Powers be sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for a 40-day evaluation as an aid in helping him impose probationary conditions upon his release from prison, but medical officials there decided it was to early and that when Sheehan-Powers is about to be released from prison another evaluation as to his conditions of release should be reviewed.Sheehan-Powers was sentenced Tuesday afternoon to serve not less than 12 years and not more than 14 years in state prison with seven years of probation with the conditions he stay away from his accusers.The judge also imposed another 8-to-10-year punishment on armed assault with intent to murder and assault with intent to maim, but those will run simultaneously with the primary 12-to-14-year state prison penalty.Whitehead agreed to follow the recommended penalty proposed by Assistant District Attorney Michael Sheehan and defense lawyer Christopher Norris.Before handing down the punishment, Sheehan-Powers apologized to Whitehead saying he was sorry for his actions.The charges arise out of three incidents.The first incident began at around 9 p.m., on July 15, 2009 when Lynn Police Officers Albert DiVirgilio and Oren Wright spotted Sheehan-Powers chasing a man past the commuter rail garage on Market Street brandishing a knife, then saw him viciously punch a then- 22-year-old developmentally disabled man from Winthrop in the face as he grabbed his Sidekick cell phone.Sheehan-Powers them jumped into a parked car, but exited it after he saw DiVirgilio approaching. A foot chase ensued into the North Shore Community College campus where police arrested Sheehan-Powers as he tried to climb a chain link fence.As DiVirgilio was trying to arrest him, Sheehan-Powers lunged at him, forcing the officer to strike him twice in the leg with a police baton.Police seized crack cocaine, a cell phone and knife from Sheehan-Powers when they took him into custody.The victim, who has Asperger?s Syndrome, a form of autism, suffered a severe injury to his left eye. He was transported to Massachusetts Eye & Ear Hospital in Boston where he underwent surgery for his injuries and has lost his sight in his left eye as a result of the incident.Then on August 2, 2009 while he was being held in lieu of bail at the Middleton Jail on the case, Sheehan-Powers attacked an inmate in the recreation room with a razor slashing his face and neck.Then again on April 4, 2011 during an altercation with another fellow inmate in the shower stall he stabbed him with a sharp object at the Middleton Jail.The then-21-year-old inmate from Lynn sustained injuries to his nose and neck, according to reports.In asking Whitehead to accept the sentence agreement, Sheehan said it was based on the vicious attacks, the severe injury suffered by the mentally challenged victim, which he described as “unprovoked,” and the nature and circumstances of the cases.Authorities say that Sheehan-Powers is a member of the Avenue King Crips gang.Sheehan-Powers has been held in lieu of bail since his arrest and will receive credit for the more than two years he has spent in jail on the cases.