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Woman sentenced to probation

Victim was robbed, beaten in vehicle Rodgers was driving

HOLLIDAYSBURG — An Altoona woman will be on probation for five years in connection with a 2015 robbery and assault that occurred inside a car she was driving.

Judge Timothy Sullivan handed down the sentence Thursday for Sinclair Rodgers, a 20-year-old woman found guilty in December on misdemeanor charges of unlawful restraint and recklessly endangering another person.

The jury acquitted Rodgers on felony charges of criminal conspiracy and robbery.

“I submit that the jury found her guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” defense attorney Douglas Keating said when asking Sullivan to impose a probationary sentence.

District Attorney Richard Consiglio spoke against probation.

“I’m not finding fault with the judge because he had that option under the state’s sentencing guidelines,” Consiglio said after Sullivan closed the sentencing hearing. “But I am finding fault with the state’s guidelines because this is a case where the guidelines fail to address what went on here.”

Consiglio contends that Rodgers was part of an organized effort.

“She and two other people arranged to pick up a guy, then got him in the back seat of the car where he was beat up and robbed over a drug deal,” Consiglio said. “I think everybody involved in this should be in jail.”

During the trial, Rodgers testified on her own behalf, telling the jury that she and her boyfriend, O’Shay Toney, picked up Allen Grager near Sixth Avenue and 17th Street and gave him a ride to Juniata so Grager could meet a friend.

Rodgers said she was surprised when Grager started beating up “the friend” in the back seat. As a result, she said she pulled the car over in an alley, where she and Toney ordered Grager to get out of the car and where Grager pushed the victim out, allowing him to flee.

Grager, who testified at the trial, said neither Rodgers nor Toney should be in trouble because of the incident. Grager entered a guilty plea in exchange for a prison sentence of one to five years. Testimony revealed that “the friend” owed $80 to Grager for a marijuana sale.

Toney, incarcerated at the Blair County Prison, has a court hearing scheduled in March on his charges.

Sullivan, who presided over Rodgers’ trial, noted in his sentencing order that Rodgers had no prior record. A pre-sentence investigation, the judge added, deemed Rodgers’ risk assessment for future offenses as low. The judge also said he didn’t see any reason to deviate from the state sentencing guidelines.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.

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