FINALLY CATCHING UP ON COURT CASES

And now, the rest of the cases that I've been procrastinating about posting to this site, with a few West Chester cases and a few non-West Chester cases thrown in...

April Blackie, 38, of Coatesville pled guilty to DUI and Endangering the Welfare of a Child after a DUI stop on the outskirts of Coatesville. On November 26, 2006 at 11:13, Coatesville Police were dispatched to the report of an erratic driver at the Turkey Hill at Routes 82 & 340 on the Coatesville/West Brandywine border. An employee from Turkey Hill reported that the defendant was in the store and was visibly intoxicated. The employee also reported a toddler was in the defendant's vehicle, of which a full description was given to police by the employee. After administering field sobriety tests, Blackie was taken to Brandywine Hospital where her BAC level was .21. Her 4-year-old son was also found not to be properly restrained in a child seat. The Commonwealth asked for a minumum of 10 days at CCP and 2 years consecutive probation, while the defense asked for the 72 hour minimum and 1 year concurrent probation. Ultimatley, Judge Howard F. Riley, Jr. sentenced Blackie to 5 days to 6 months in jail and 1 year concurrent probation (CP-15-CR-0000832-2007)...

Michael Joseph Pagano, 35, of West Chester, recieved a state prison term following a robbery at a popular uptown coffee shop. On March 26 at 19:39, the manager of Sprazzo's at 27 North High Street reported Pagano had stolen an unknown amount of cash from the tip jar. He then fled southbound on High Street and was chased by both the store manager and a civilian. Pagano was located at East Miner Street and Sharon Alley where he threw some of the bills to the ground, then approached the two chasees with a brick. About a half hour later, Ofc. Thomas Flick located Pagano on the 200 block of East Union Street; the manager made a positive ID and Pagano was arrested. Pagano's criminal history is rather extensive:

• On July 2, 1996, Pagano was arrested by Sgt. William Camlin of West Goshen Police after allegedly defrauding the Holiday Inn on South High Street of $82.00. He pled guilty to one count of Unlawful Possesion of Device Making Equipment and sentenced by Judge Lawrence Wood to 44 days to 23 months at CCP (CP-15-CR-0003712-1996).
• On June 27, 1997, Pagano was pulled over on a traffic stop by Ofc. Jeffrey Murray and charged with DUI; Judge Wood sentenced Pagano to 47 days to 12 months at CCP and ordered to pay $500 restitution to his victim (CP-15-CR-0002896-1997).
• On the very next day after Ofc. Murray charged Pagano with DUI, Ofc. Christopher Craig charged Pagano with MVA Involving Damage to an Attended Vehicle (hit-and-run); Pagano was sentenced to 1 year probation consecutive to the DUI parole and ordered to pay $675 in restitution (CP-15-CR-0003314-1997).
• On January 3, 1998, Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police charged Pagano with Unsworn Falsification to Authorities, Forgery, and Public Drunkeness following an incident in Westtown Township; on June 22, 1998, Pagano pled guilty to the Unsworn Falsification charge and was sentenced by Judge Riley to 1 year probation and ordered to perform 100 hours community service (CP-15-CR-0000099-1998).
• On June 11, 2000, Pagano was charged with Simple Assault, Harassment, Unlawful Restriant, Criminal Attempt/Voluntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, and False Imprisonment following a domestic dispute in Modena filed by Tpr. Charles Cox of PSP/Embreeville; on September 6, 2000, Pagano was sentenced by Judge James MacElree II to 88 days to 23 months at CCP and ordered to complete a domestic violence program (CP-15-CR-0002767-2000).
• On September 9, 2001, Pagano was arrested by West Goshen Police on charges of Unlawful Use of a Computer/Destroy Data, Theft, Recieving Stolen Property, and Disorderly Conduct following an incident at Commerce Bank; on November 21, 2001, Judge MacElree sentenced Pagano to 5 days to 23 months in prison and ordered Pagano to pay $1,200 restitution (CP-15-CR-0003803-2001).

This does not include 4 criminal cases (2 from Judge Bruno's court, 1 from Judge Knapp's court, and 1 from Judge Winther's court) that were reduced to summary offenses, 20 non-traffic cases filed in five different district courts (both West Chester courts, West Goshen, Coatesville, and Downingtown) and 5 traffic cases (1 in Judge Bruno's court, 4 in Judge Winther's) since 2000. So with a record like this, it appeared that Pagano would get yet another trip to Chester County Prison with credit for time service and probation, right?

Um, no.

Judge Phyllis Strietel actually decided to throw the book at Pagano, sentencing him to 1-to-2 years in state prison, with credit for 140 days time served and ordered Pagano to submit a DNA sample for the state database as a convicted felon. How many "frequent fliers" have committed more serious offenses over the years and never set foot inside SCI Camp Hill (where all new state inmates are initially processed)? It doesn't seem like that many, but at last now Pagano and his lengthy history with WCPD and other local agencies will remain unchanged for the next year or so (CP-15-CR-00001439-2007)...

Meanwhile, a Newlin man who led police on a lengthy high speed pursuit from Westtown to East Fallowfield with a stop at his Newlin home, was given a relatively generous sentence as par t of a plea bargain. Frank Joseph Mariani IV, 40, led police on a high speed chase that initially related to an burglary investigation on the 1100 block of South New Street in Westtown.

On March 6 at around 13:45, Ofc. David Leahy of the Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police responded to the residence after a construction worker was approached by Mariani, who asked if the residence was home of Pocopson's resident village idiot Brandon "Bam" Margera. Mariani claimed he was searching for a guitar that was in the residence.

When Ofc. Leahy approached the vehicle, Mariani sped off heading northbound on New Street through the WCU South Campus. Officers initially lost sight of Mariani's truck on Route 842 and Allerton Road in East Bradford. Officers later located Mariani's truck at his residence on the 1000 block of Brandywine Creek Road in Newlin.

Mariani then fled from officers again, racing along the back roads of Newlin, West Bradford, and East Fallowfield, including driving his truck through the East Fallowfield Elementary School property on Strasburg Road. After driving through several yards and fields and striking a pole along the way, Mariani eventually bailed out from his truck in the area of a storage facility on Route 82. At 17:25, the Philadelphia Police Department's Tac-Air 1 helo located the suspect walking towards Route 82. West Caln Township Police Chief Curt Martinez (a former East Fallowfield officer) apprehended Mariani a short time later (CP-15-CR-0001580-2007).

Mariani picked up those charges while out on bail for a domestic related incident at his Newlin residence. On October 3, 2006 at 15:00, Tpr. Eric Hostelling of PSP/Embreeville responded to the residence after his wife reported the defendant made threats to her and displayed a pistol in the waistband of his pants. He was later served a "302 warrant" (involuntary committment to a mental health facility) and a .40 caliber pistol was recovered (CP-15-CR-0002496-2007).

For his actions relating from the pursuit and the domestic, Mariani was sentenced to 44 days to 23 months at CCP (with credit for time served while in custody awaiting his preliminary hearing) and three years consecutive probation on charges for Fleeing/Eluding Police, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Resisting Arrest, and Defiant Trespassing from the Westtown incident and sentenced to 3 years concurrent probation on a Terroristic Threats charge from Newlin. Nice deterrent, huh?

Finally, we bring three defendants who ran afoul of the law on the West Chester University campus...

Barry Cosby, 27, of Philadelphia, had two cases pending relating to two separate incidents within a week of each other at WCU. On January 19 at 00:16, Sgt. Matthew Paris of WCU Police observed the defendant and his girlfriend what appeared to be a cigarette while attending a dance at the Ehringer Gym. Both Cosby and his girlfriend were arrested and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance. Cosby was ordered not to return to the campus and that he would be subject to arrest if he did return (CP-15-CR-0002604-2007).

On February 2 at 11:57, Sgt. Paris observed Cosby entering Goshen Hall, though he was tied up on other matters, namely the execution of an unrelated search warrant. A review of the dorm's surveillance tapes showed Cosby sign into the dorm where his girlfriend was living the day before at 23:40. A few days later, while out at Judge Bruno's court, Sgt. Paris informed Cosby that he would be charged with Defiant Tresspassing (CP-15-CR-0002606-2007).

On February 20, Cosby was given the opportunity to enter into a summary disposition agreement where the charges in both cases would be reduced to summary offenses if he complied with the terms of the agreement. On May 22, Cosby was given a 30 day extension to come up with the full amount of costs in order to complete the agreement. On June 26, after Cosby failed to appear for court, his charges in both cases were automaticially waived to Common Pleas Court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

For what it's worth, Cosby's girlfriend, Laneek Ashley Jones, 20, of Philadelphia, was charged a month after the incident on Drug Possession, Public Drunkeness, and Underage Drinking charges which were reduced to a summary Disorderly Conduct charge after complying with her agreement (15-1-01, CR-0000057-07).

Cosby, for his part, pled guilty to one count of Possession of Drug Paraphanalia, and was sentenced to 1-to-12 months at CCP and ordered to pay the $105 Lima Lab fee. He also pled guilty to Defiant Tresspassing and sentenced to 15 days to 11 months at CCP...

Adrianna Ferranti, 21, and Dupreme Taylor, 23, both of Piscataway, N.J., each pled guilty to one count of Recieving Stolen Property and Conspiracy following an incident at the F-Lot on the West Chester University campus. On June 4, 2006 at 03:10, the victim reported to WCU police that a set of rims and tires were stolen from her vehicle parked at F-Lot at South New and West Linden Streets. About an hour earlier, WCU Police conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by Ferranti in which Taylor was a passenger. The officer observed rims and tires in the back of the SUV. A review of the surveillance cameras from F-Lot showed the suspect vehicle entering the lot at 01:50 and leaving 15 minutes later. Judge Riley sentenced Ferranti to 2 years probation (CP-15-CR-0004041-2006) and Taylor to 3 years probation (CP-15-CR-0003926-2006). They were ordered to pay $1,601.38 restitution to the victim...

Well, I'm making progress in updating these cases. There are a couple more cases from West Whiteland which I will comment on in a day or two. Also, I will get around to posting that Drug Court graduation ceremony from Wednesday as soon as I can find my notes from that ceremony...