UPDATE: Two of the sentencing hearings were not held today. The hearing for Jonathan McLaurine was postponed to January 8th.
Mason Jackson’s hearing was also continued, but his hearing date has not been announced.
Michael Burkhart was sentenced to two years probation, along with paying $1300 in fines along with court costs.
WHAT WE PREVIOUSLY REPORTED
A number of defendants will be sentenced today in Indiana County Court, including 35-year-old Jonathan McLaurine of Indiana, who pleaded guilty in September to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance for a January arrest at a home on South Walnut Street.
Police raided the home and found 91 stamp bags of heroin and about a gram of cocaine, along with a handgun. The home was in “deplorable” condition and two children were said to be in danger because of their living conditions. McLaurine and his wife, Alison, were arrested. Alison McLaurine passed away in April.
Also scheduled for sentencing today is:
- Mason Jackson, who is facing sentencing in connection with an incident in October of 2015. Police say the now-22-year-old Beaver County man was one of three men who robbed an apartment on South 8th The victims claimed that all three men had guns and all three pistol-whipped them with the guns. Jackson had filed omnibus pre-trial motions, including a challenge to his identification as one of the suspects from a social media photo. On September 13th of this year, Jackson pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of Robbery-taking property from others by force, with charges of Robbery-threat of immediate serious injury, aggravated assault and theft by unlawful taking were not prosecuted.
- Michael Burkhart, who was found guilty in mid-September of simple assault, reckless endangerment, and criminal trespass for a case in June of last year. The jury said he was not guilty of aggravated assault and terroristic threats. The charges stemmed from an argument between Burkhart and his neighbor, David Neff, who was weeding his garden and threw a weed over the fence. That set off Burkhart, who jumped the fence, brandished a gun, and threatened to kill Neff. The two got into a fistfight and state police separated the two at the scene.
- Dante Scott, who pleaded guilty to a charge of manufacture with intent to deliver and carrying a firearm without a license. Charges of receiving stolen property, prohibited possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, and several summary charges were not prosecuted. This goes back to an incident on May 27th, when Scott was pulled over for multiple traffic violations and after the 28-year-old man consented to a search, police found 22 grams of cocaine and a stolen Smith and Wesson handgun.
- John Allen Taylor who pleaded guilty to a charge of use of an access device not authorized to him for an incident in October of last year.
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