A 31-year-old Norwich man was sentenced two years and a day in prison Thursday in New London Superior Court for his role in a Jan. 8, 2017, home invasion.

Jamal Young also was told Monday that he would not be prosecuted in another home invasion in which he'd been charged.

Young was one of five people arrested in connection with the Jan. 8, 2017, home invasion/robbery of a man who had solicited escort services from one of the perpetrators. He was on probation at the time of his arrest and was accused of missing anger management meetings, testing positive for alcohol and marijuana, and failing to attend an employment program.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery and violation of probation, accepting a deal that even he admitted amounted to a "slap on the hand."

Also Thursday, prosecutor Lawrence J. Tytla said he was not prosecuting Young in a separate case in which he'd been charged with holding a gun to the head of a cancer patient and demanding she give him her prescription pain pills during a December 2016 home invasion on Talman Street. Tytla said the Norwich police came to him while Young was being prosecuted and were "quite convinced it was a case of mistaken identity."

Defense attorney Jeremiah Donovan said Young seemed intelligent and remorseful when he spoke with him and understands the seriousness of the case and the good deal he received.

"Don't expect him back," Donovan told Judge Hillary B. Strackbein.

Young said he'd been in and out of prison since he was 19 years old. He has been held since January 2017 during his latest stint and currently is being housed at the Bridgeport Correctional Center.

"The life of crime isn't for me, and I'm just not that good at it," Young said. "Being in prison, you see a lot of zombies, people without purposes. I have a purpose. Being a father, son, husband, neighbor."

k.florin@theday.com