Jerome Taylor pimped out women, posed as a police officer to rob a man who had solicited sexual favors from a prostitute and stole a safe from a bed and breakfast in Stonington, according to testimony in New London Superior Court.

He has 11 previous convictions, and each of the seven times he was placed on probation, Taylor was charged with violations. While incarcerated, he accrued 26 disclipinary tickets.

But as he stood before Judge Hillary B. Strackbein for sentencing Monday, the 28-year-old New London man was reduced to tears after his mother said it breaks her heart to have to go to court or prison to see her son.

"I made a lot of mistakes," Taylor said. "Looking back at what I put my family through, and who I hurt, I wish I could take it all back."

Taylor had pleaded gulty to second-degree robbery, promoting prostitution and impersonating a police officer and faced between seven and eight years in prison.

The judge imposed the full eight years after listening to arguments from prosecutor Lawrence J. Tytla and defense attorney T.J. Morelli-Wolfe.

Tytla listed Taylor's crimes, which he said seem to have gotten worse, and said he couldn't help but be cynical about Taylor's revelation that he needs to be a better father to his 9-year-old son.

Morelli-Wolfe said Taylor had a difficult upbringing, his father having spent most of his life in prison, that his codefendant, 26-year-old Ashley Harnois was receiving a better deal and that he acknowledges his wrongdoing. She has pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery and is scheduled for sentencing on Tuesday.

"Mr. Taylor is genuinely concerned for his son, and he will not be before the court again," said Morelli-Wolfe.

The judge told Taylor his record is terrible, but he's still young and has a chance to turn his life around.

"Do you want your son to act like you, just like you did with your father?" Strackbein said. "You have a chance to stop that."

According to Groton City Police, a resident of Bridge Street used a website to solicit sex from a prostitute on Nov. 19, 2017. Harnois, of Woonsocket, R.I., entered the residence alone, but then said she had to grab something from her vehicle.

When the victim opened his front door to let her back in, police said, he found the woman standing there with another man, later identified as Taylor. The pair rushed into the residence, with Taylor claiming he was a police officer.

Taylor, armed with a silver and black BB pistol, forced the victim to kneel on the floor and Harnois handcuffed him, according to police. Police said the woman removed two plastic bags containing "a large amount of cash" from a dresser and the duo ran from the home.

A day after the home invasion, police encountered Harnois and Taylor at a local hotel and arrested them on separate prostitution-related charges. Taylor was dressed in black and wearing a T-shirt that read "POLICE" and had the BB pistol in his car.

According to court records, Taylor and Harnois sneaked into the Orchard Street Inn Bed & Breakfast on Halloween night in 2017 and carried away a safe weighing more than 200 pounds.

k.florin@theday.com