Man gets prison in plotted robbery

Investigation linked Sanderlin to gang, according to police

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- An Altoona man involved in two incidents -- one in which he kicked in the door of Tyrone apartment to steal marijuana and cash and an unrelated incident in which he plotted the robbery and assault of a woman at Gospel Hill in Altoona -- was sentenced Monday to eight to 16 years in a state prison.

Jason Zackery Sanderlin, 23, who has been in Blair County Prison since his Jan. 30, 2021, arrest, asked Judge Wade A. Kagarise for leniency.

"What I did wasn't right," Sanderlin told the judge. "This is not the type of life I want to live."

Sanderlin pleaded guilty in August to offenses filed in both incidents, including robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, criminal conspiracy to commit robbery and receiving stolen property.

District Attorney Pete Weeks asked for consecutive sentences that would add up to more time than Kagarise imposed.

"It is a significant sentence," Weeks said outside court. "But it wasn't reflective of the seriousness of his crimes."

State Police at Hollidaysburg, Cpls. Matthew Bonin and John Romeo told Kagarise the investigation into the Tyrone incident revealed Sanderlin's association with what they referred to as a street gang and its directives for Sanderline to carry out the attack. Weeks, in speaking of Sanderlin's gang association, pointed to Sanderlin's white supremacy tattoo.

Bonin also mentioned the incident's planning and efforts taken to disconnect cellphones from internet access during the robbery.

"There was an extreme amount of premeditation in this case," Bonin said in court.

The investigation also resulted in criminal charges against James K. Johnson-Ross who remains accused of organizing the break-in.

"(Johnson-Ross) didn't participate because he was on an ankle monitor," Weeks said in court.

Video secured from the apartment building at 308 W. 11th St., Tyrone, showed two men, identified as Sanderlin and Kyler Luckadoo, entering the building on Jan. 21, 2021.

Sanderlin, carrying an AR-10 assault style rifle, kicked open an apartment door and once inside, the men are accused of yelling racial slur and aiming guns at the people inside, then taking a quarter pound of marijuana and $400.

Weeks told Kagarise the AR-10 Sanderlin carried into the apartment building was never recovered.

"The danger to the community throughout the incident was extremely high," Weeks said.

In the second offense, on Oct. 25, 2020, Sanderline and then girlfriend Emily Eirhart, plus four others, were arrested and charged for their roles in a plot to lure a woman to the 1400 block of 15th Avenue, near Gospel Hill, where the woman was attacked and beaten.

The woman, who reported becoming semi-conscious during the attack, went to Altoona police to report the assault and was transported to UPMC Altoona for treatment.

Weeks read a statement in court, written by the woman, who described her lack of trust in others since the incident and her injuries.

"I didn't feel safe anywhere I went," she wrote.

Sanderlin's defense attorney, Mark Zearfaus, described the eight- to 16-year sentence as "fair." He also said he hopes his client follows through with his pursuit of rehabilitation programs available to state prison inmates.

Sanderlin's sister, Mikayla Fitch, told the judge her brother deserved a second chance. She described a terrible childhood affected by their parents' drug use or absence, one that she left behind because of an amazing foster mother.

Kagarise told Sanderlin that his sentence is a reflection of his combined behaviors.

"There's a price to pay here for what you've done," the judge said.

Kagarise also encouraged Sanderlin to follow through on his intentions to live a different life.

"A lot of people go to state prison and end up as criminals for the rest of their lives," Kagarise said. "Only you can decide ... if you can turn things around for the good of all of us."

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.