In Indiana County Court today, several defendants are scheduled to be sentenced, including an Indiana man who fired shots inside an apartment complex office last September.
In a non-jury trial, Judge Thomas Bianco convicted 68-year-old Joel Mansell of two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of recklessly endangering another person, and discharging a firearm in an occupied structure. The felony aggravated assault charges each carry maximum penalties of ten years.
Angry that his electricity had been shut off because of unpaid bills, Mansell went to the office of the Westgate Terrance apartment complex, confronting two workers and firing two shots through the ceiling. The workers and a man living in the second floor above the office were unhurt. Mansell fled and was later caught in the parking lot at the Southtowne Plaza shopping center. Two people were injured in an accident involving an IUP police cruiser responding to the pursuit.
Also in court today, 26-year-old Heather Smith of Indiana will be sentenced in nine separate cases, eight of them for retail theft and one for bad checks. The thefts occurred on four dates last December, two in January, on in April, and one in April.
26-year-old Vernon Hazlett III of Indiana will be sentenced for criminal trespass, theft, and fleeing police. He stole a stereo and speakers from a shed in Pine Township and sold them on Craigslist, and also fled police on an ATV in a second incident.
25-year-old Devin Butler of Coral will be sentenced for a guilty plea to possession with intent to deliver. 55-year-old Pamela Johnson of Arcadia will be sentenced for theft by failure to make required disposition of funds. 36-year-old Philip Kubala of Indiana will be sentenced for receiving stolen property. 36-year-old Terrence Nagare of Indiana will be sentenced for simple assault.
