Judges uphold lengthy sentence

Lewistown man faces up to six years for drug, weapon charges

A panel of Pennsylvania Superior Court judges last week agreed that a man arrested on drug possession and weapons charges in Huntingdon County had received a sentence "entirely outside the guidelines," but it also agreed that the county's President Judge George N. Zanic had good reason to impose the lengthy sentence.

The defendant, Jonathan Romero, 38, of Lewistown, who is now incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution at Albion in Erie County, was sentenced a year ago to three to six years in prison after a police search found him in possession of more than 5 grams of methamphetamine, brass knuckles, an illegal knife and other drugs, including a bag containing five fentanyl pills.

A Huntingdon County jury found Romero guilty of possessing the methamphetamine and the brass knuckles but, according to the Superior Court, acquitted him of possessing the fentanyl with the intent to distribute.

Zanic sentenced Romero to state prison and subsequently rejected a request by Romero's attorney, Timothy S. Burns of Ebensburg, to lessen the sentence.

Burns, in an appeal to the Superior Court, contended the sentence was "highly excessive and well beyond the sentencing guidelines."

The appeal also charged that the judge had considered factors that were not proved during the trial.

Judges Jack A. Panella, Judith F. Olson and Alice B. Dubow concluded "that there is no dispute that Romero was sentenced outside the guidelines for the prohibited weapon conviction."

Because of that apparently lengthy sentence, the panel ruled that the Burns appeal had raised "substantial question" of law.

But it went on to explain that in order to overturn the sentence, the defense had to show the county judge had misapplied the law or that the sentence was driven by the judge's "partiality, prejudice, bias or ill will."

A sentencing judge, the panel said, is required to consider a defendant's criminal record, his personal characteristics and his potential for rehabilitation.

Romero came to the attention of police in March 2021 while staying at a Comfort Inn in Huntingdon with two others.

His friends twice requested EMTs to come to the hotel because Romero was suffering from severe asthma attacks.

When a third call for help was made, the EMTs indicated they could not administer a third dose of albuterol at the hotel but that he had to go to the hospital, Penn Highlands Huntingdon, for further treatment.

EMTs also requested police assistance because Romero was carrying a baseball bat and had a pocket knife.

At the hospital, police conducted a pat down search and found the methamphetamine, the brass knuckles and the fentanyl.

The judge in sentencing Romero concluded that Romero with his baseball bat and various other weapons imposed a risk to the public, to the Huntingdon County's tourism industry and to the "entire community."

He also emphasized that Romero had prior convictions for multiple simple assaults, theft, possession with intent to distribute and robbery.

The appeals court explained that Zanic concluded a lesser sentence "would not adequately meet Romero's rehabilitative needs."

It noted Romeo had previously served terms in both county and state prisons that include 13 years behind bars.

"Based upon this record, we cannot conclude the trial court abused its discretion in imposing sentence," stated the Superior Court opinion.