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WILKES-BARRE — A former Plymouth man apologized Thursday for his role in carjacking the wife of a former Wilkes-Barre police chief in April 2016.
Dametrius Cefus Laws, 24, said time spent in state prison for an unrelated robbery and home invasion in Plymouth in March 2016 has changed him, noting he would rather have his freedom than lead a life of crime.
“I’m not that kid anymore,” Laws said while expressing his remorse.
Luzerne County Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. said he recognized Laws has changed his behavior and noted a personal apology he made to Jean Dessoye, the wife of former police chief Gerard Dessoye.
Wilkes-Barre police alleged Laws and Corey Thomas Patrick, 22, conspired to steal a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox occupied by Jean Dessoye when she parked on Diebel Street, Wilkes-Barre, on April 3, 2016. She suffered leg injuries during the carjacking, according to court records.
A knife and eyeglasses were recovered at the scene.
With FBI assistance, city detectives learned the suspects’ cellphones were in the area of the carjacking and later in the area where the vehicle was recovered.
Detectives also traced the eyeglass frame to a retail store in Wilkes-Barre Township where a sales receipt was linked to Patrick and his cellphone number.
Laws, who is serving a five- to 10-year state prison sentence for the Plymouth robbery and home invasion, pleaded guilty to robbery of a vehicle and theft.
Sklarosky sentenced him to an additional three to six years in state prison for the carjacking offense, followed by two years probation.
Patrick is facing a trial in March on multiple robbery-related offenses.
