HOLLIDAYSBURG — An Altoona man will spend four to 10 years in prison after rendering guilty pleas Monday to charges that developed from a July 9 stabbing and a search of his residence which yielded cocaine.

Keith Denyiel Young Sr., 58, was supposed to go on trial today in Blair County court on charges filed in two separate cases.

Instead, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possessing an instrument of crime, possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy to commit possession with intent to deliver and flight to avoid apprehension.

Young, after being handcuffed in the courtroom, was escorted to the county prison, where he will await transfer to a state prison.

Judge Jackie Bernard, who was to preside over Young’s jury trial, imposed the negotiated sentence offered by Assistant District Attorney Derek Elensky and defense attorney Scott Pletcher.

While Bernard discourages attorneys from presenting negotiated pleas after jury selection, she said she would accept this one in light of the support for the plea to address what she described as “a complicated evidentiary case.”

Elensky said he and investigating Altoona police Sgt. Eric Heuston talked with the stabbing victim about the negotiated plea.

“(Heuston) and the victim, they were both OK in light of the length of the sentence and the charges he would plead to,” Elensky told the judge.

Charges indicate that the victim, who was stabbed in the stomach, was actively bleeding when treated at UPMC Altoona Hospital, where he underwent exploratory surgery to determine the extent of his injuries.

The complications in the case surfaced during a preliminary hearing about a month after the stabbing, where the victim said he, Young and Young’s girlfriend, Daysha Sierra LaPenna, 19, reported that they were drinking at a local bar prior to the stabbing.

The victim told police he and Young got into a physical fight, which is when the stabbing occurred. The victim also accused LaPenna of pepper-spraying him during the fight.

Police said LaPenna later contacted a 911 dispatcher and advised that her boyfriend had returned “all bloody” to their residence on the 1500 block of First Avenue. When police showed up at the residence, she wasn’t there, but Young — after initially refusing to exit the residence — was subsequently taken into custody.

A search of the residence, police said, led to the seizure of four bags — about 67 grams — of suspected cocaine with a street value of about $6,700. Police also collected spoons with residue, two digital scales and a glass smoking pipe.

Bernard posed several questions to Young about his decision to render guilty pleas and reminded him that he could instead go to trial.

Young, in response, said he thought it was in his best interest to enter the guilty pleas for the recommended sentence. He also made a comment about different versions as to what happened, but told Bernard that he wanted to plead guilty.

“I manned up to my responsibility to (the victim) … and to the community,” Young said.

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