Bail decision delayed for man who phoned threats

Alleged thefts land Cantos back in custody

Blair County Judge Wade A. Kagarise said Thursday he will consider several options on how to deal with the issues facing a Hollidaysburg area man who was charged with making threatening phone calls to schools in the Hollidaysburg Area School District two years ago.

Javier A. Cantos Jr., 26, was eventually sentenced to a minimum of 15 months in prison after pleading to the phone calls.

However, after completing his time behind bars, he is alleged to have committed three thefts and, as a result, he was placed in the Blair County Prison when he could not come up with a total of $105,000 in bail money.

His attorney, Kristen L. Anastasi, recently filed a petition asking Kagarise to alter his bail from $105,000 cash to $105,000 unsecured.

During a hearing Thursday, the attorney explained that Cantos has been behind bars for more than 600 days.

His trial on the theft cases has been delayed due to questions concerning the state of the defendant's mental health at the time when he is alleged to have committed the thefts.

An evaluation obtained by the defense indicates Cantos was legally incompetent, Anastasi explained.

Because of his new arrests, Cantos faces an additional year behind bars for violating his parole that stemmed from his plea on the threatening phone calls to the Hollidaysburg schools.

Cantos cannot begin serving his parole sentence while in prison awaiting trial on the theft offenses, Anastasi said.

She explained to the judge that Cantos could be released to a state corrections facility to begin his additional year behind bars if he is placed on unsecured bail.

Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks, however, has his own concerns about the Cantos case.

He explained his priority is protection of the public.

Weeks pointed out Cantos has a prior criminal record in other states as well as in his native Blair County.

He asked Kagarise to give the prosecution time to have Cantos re-evaluated by Philadelphia psychiatrist John O'Brien.

The Blair DA also stated his opposition to the defense use of an insanity defense when Cantos is brought to trIal on the theft charges.

Faced with these complex issues, the judge decided to delay his decision on the bail question presented by Anastasi.

He then asked Weeks to explain how long it would take to conduct an additional mental health evaluation of Cantos.

Weeks said he would report back to the judge next week on the time involved.

Cantos attended the hearing before Kagarise and then was returned to the Blair County Prison.

Anastasi noted that Cantos is a veteran, and she said his mental health problems are service related.