Home invasion ringleader gets 6-year sentence

NEWARK – The reported mastermind behind a January home invasion in Buckeye Lake was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison.

Dereak Avery, 31, last known address 109 Lakewood Drive Apt. B, Hebron, entered no contest pleas to counts of aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony; robbery, a second-degree felony; and theft, a fourth-degree felony.

On Jan. 18, Avery and a juvenile went to a home on Highland Avenue in Buckeye Lake, kicked in the door and waved BB guns that looked like real firearms, Assistant Licking County Prosecutor Chris Reamer said.

The reason the victim’s home was targeted was because she had recently received prescription pain medication, Reamer said.

Avery told Judge Thomas Marcelain on Wednesday he was sorry for what he had done.

Avery’s attorney, Eric Brehm, asked for sentence under five years and said Avery made a “series of terrible decisions.”

“There is no sufficient explanation or good reason why this crime happened,” Brehm said.

Reamer asked for a six-year sentence, citing Avery’s criminal history, which includes a felony conviction for receiving stolen property.

Marcelain agreed with Reamer, mentioning the fact that the victim is elderly and the codefendants in the case were both under the age of 20.

In May, Availeo King, the driver in the robbery, was sentenced for four years in prison.