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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- An Altoona woman convicted in May of two gun offenses -- possessing a firearm while prohibited and possessing a firearm without a license -- was sentenced Wednesday to four to eight years in a state prison.
Nakesha D. Feathers, 25, who told police in July 2020 that she bought a gun for protection, also faces pending drug charges that could be the focus of a jury trial in October.
Blair County Judge Jackie Bernard handed down Feathers' sentence, falling at the bottom of the state's standard range sentencing guidelines, after reviewing a history with repeated parole violations for illegal drug use.
Feathers was incarcerated for two years in a state prison, until her release in February 2019. During the months thereafter, Feathers tested positive for methamphetamine and other drug use. The history also showed that she pursued treatment and relapsed.
Bernard said the history also showed parole officers had difficulty when trying to locate Feathers, including in May 2020 when she was found in a local motel room with evidence of methamphetamine usage.
Two months later, state police at Hollidaysburg stopped the vehicle Feathers was driving in Altoona. She was accused of the gun charges and numerous drug offenses for possession of methamphetamine, LSD, gabapentin, methadone, alprazolam and drug paraphernalia.
The judge told Feathers that such behavior is cause for concern, especially when it involves possession of a gun.
"You have to want to live a different life," Bernard told her.
Defense attorney Robert Donaldson said he and Feathers would offer no presentation in court on Wednesday because of her pending drug charges. He asked Bernard to consider concurrent sentences on each of the gun offenses, which would have set Feathers' minimum sentence at 2.5 years instead of four years.
Assistant District Attorney Katelyn Hoover asked for a sentence within the state's standard range sentencing guidelines. She pointed out that when Feathers, a convicted felon, was found with a Smith & Wesson handgun, it was loaded with 13 rounds, and Feathers admitted to police that she bought the gun.
Since her arrest on July 26, 2020, Feathers has remained incarcerated in the county prison. But that didn't keep Feathers from methamphetamine use, based on a positive test reported in a report the judge reviewed.
"So you found some way of getting meth into the county prison," the judge said.
Bernard told Feathers that after she transfers to a state prison, she should make every effort to take advantage of opportunities for long-term drug abuse treatment to address her addiction.
"Going to state prison is going to keep you alive," the judge said.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.