A Westmoreland County man who has an extensive criminal history is due for a plea court hearing today in Indiana County Court.
43-year-old Dennis Michael Shank of Derry will enter his plea before Indiana County President Judge Thomas Bianco for charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communications facility for an incident reported on April 15th of 2021. Shank has a criminal history that goes back to 1997, with charges of theft, simple assault, terroristic threats and disorderly conduct filed against him previously. In 2022, he was also charged with possessing an instrument of crime with intent and inmate procuring a weapon for himself for trying to make a weapon out of wires from face masks. He planned on trying to escape during a preliminary hearing in June of last year, but police got wind of the plan and he was caught with his handmade weapons.
Also due for a plea court hearing this morning is a 22-year-old man who has a criminal history in Washington County. Court documents show that Zion Cameron Filby is facing a charge of Aggravated Harassment by a Prisoner for an incident in February of 2021. His criminal history includes an incident where he was charged in connection with a robbery of a convenience store in Cannonsburg in June of 2020 and threatened a clerk with a knife. He took $350 in cash in the theft, but he later admitted his crimes to police.
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