Probation given in beating death

HOLLIDAYSBURG - Three Altoona men were each placed on three years' probation Thursday in connection with the beating death of another man during a neighborhood argument that escalated into a Labor Day weekend brawl four years ago.

Abraham James Napolitana, 27, and his cousins, Daniel Theodore Mort II, 39, and James H. Mort, 21, entered no contest pleas to involuntary manslaughter charges for the death of Curtis Fleck.

Although the men entered no contest pleas, there was no agreement on the sentence, which left Blair County Judge Hiram Carpenter with the decision to impose short prison terms based on the state's sentencing guidelines or place the men on probation.

Carpenter decided to place them on probation and fine each man $1,000, saying that none of the men had prior records, two of the men were married and had children and they all had steady jobs.

Fleck got into a neighborhood dispute with the men, and possibly others, during a block party Sept. 5, 2005. Fleck was upset that children were making noise on the street while he was attempting to sleep, authorities said.

According to defense attorney Thomas M. Dickey, Fleck and a woman at the party on the 800 block of Fourth Avenue swung at each other. Both missed. The men then came to the woman's defense and pummelled Fleck.

Fleck refused treatment, although the next day he went to the hospital.

Fleck was found dead Sept. 21, 2005. An autopsy by Dr. William Kirsch found that Fleck died of a head injury. Kirsch indicated it could have occurred during the Sept. 5 brawl.

Dickey said had he taken the case to trial, he would have produced testimony to show Fleck had been in two additional fights between Sept. 5 and 21, 2005.

A preliminary hearing occurred 26 months ago, but the case had not come to trial.

Blair County District Attorney Richard A. Consiglio said the trial was delayed while the defense hired experts to contest the theory that Fleck died as a result of the fight with the three men.

While Dickey said he believed the men could not have caused Fleck's death, Consiglio retorted that he believed the evidence was strong enough to convict them of involuntary manslaughter - essentially an accidental death.

Carpenter told the men it was "a hard case ... a difficult case."

"My sense of it is the right thing here is to put you on probation, to give you the opportunity to show the court you are - as being represented - law-abiding people who just got involved in something."

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.