GREENFIELD — A Greenfield man will spend the next three to four years in state prison after changing his plea in connection with a series of break-ins and larcenies last year.
Ion Covalenco, 28, explained in Franklin County Superior Court that he had been trying to obtain money to buy drugs through the theft of small items from vehicles, knowing that they often can be easily replaced.
“I seem to have a very bad decision-making process when I’m under the influence of cocaine and other drugs,” he told Judge Jane Mulqueen on Wednesday.
Covalenco pleaded guilty to 11 counts of breaking and entering into a motor vehicle at nighttime, 10 counts of larceny under $1,200, and single counts of being a common and notorious thief, fraud using a credit card for under $1,200 and possession of ammunition without an FID card. A “common and notorious thief” is a legal designation in Massachusetts for someone who has been convicted of multiple larceny offenses. It applies when a person is convicted of three distinct larcenies at the same court or commits a new larceny following a previous conviction.
Prosecutors declined to pursue a subsequent Class B drug possession charge.
He will receive 404 days of credit for the time he has been incarcerated since his arrest. The charges were related to a series of crimes committed on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, 2025.
Mulqueen told Covalenco that she hopes he takes advantage of the educational and substance abuse treatment programs offered at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. He mentioned he had passed his high-school equivalency test — now called the HiSET and formerly known as the GED — and took some college courses while incarcerated.
