Pentsas

Vasilios Pentsas Jr., a 40-year-old Altoona man serving a state prison term for murder, is attempting to revive a federal lawsuit he filed two years ago in which he sued a Blair County corrections officer for setting him up for a beating by associates of his victim, who were also in the county prison.

Pentsas was arrested in November 2020 for shooting 29-year-old Andrew Ozio in the aftermath of an ongoing argument from a drug deal gone bad.

When it came time for his trial, Pentsas, through his attorney John Sisto, was able to reach a plea deal with District Attorney Pete Weeks and Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith, under which he would receive a sentence of 12 to 30 years behind bars.

Blair County President Judge Wade A. Kagarise approved the sentence, and Pentsas is now serving his time in the State Correctional Institution in Fayette County.

In June 2023, Pentsas filed a civil rights lawsuit against the then-warden of the Blair County Prison, the prison’s medical service and a corrections officer, contending that he was moved from a cell in the prison’s B-Block to a cell in D-Block, where alleged family and friends of his victim were located.

Within minutes of his placement in his new cell, Pentsas claimed in his lawsuit “a group of inmates flooded into the cell” and began beating him.

Pentsas claims that he suffered a severe concussion, permanent damage to his jaw and a swelling of his eye that lasted for a week.

His lawsuit charged that the decision by the officer who allegedly ordered him moved from protective custody to D-Block, where his victim’s alleged associates were being housed, was intentional and that the officer was aware that Pentsas would be in possible danger.

He charged the prison official with “deliberate indifference” to his fate and with a violation of his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.

The lawsuit also stated that a prison counselor had warned officials that Pentsas should not be moved into D-Block because inmates there were making threats against him.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie L. Haines referred Pentsas’ lawsuit to Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto, who presides in Johnstown, for review and recommendation — a not unusual procedure.

In mid-February, Pesto issued a recommendation that the lawsuit be dismissed.

But the judge granted the parties 14 days to object to his findings.

Last Friday, Pentsas filed an objection and requested that Haines permit his lawsuit to move forward.

According to Pesto, “Pentsas has no evidence that (the corrections officer) ordered his move from B-Block to D-Block, and the record indicates that it was (another officer) who did.”

He also pointed out that there was no evidence that a “flood” of inmates entered his cell and emphasized the actual attack on Pentsas was by one inmate who was not related to the victim.

Pesto, in his review of the case, noted there was an order issued to keep Pentsas separated from six named inmates, but the lone attacker was not one of those six.

Pentsas, in his 13-page objection filed Friday, pointed out that video footage of the attack shows multiple inmates entering the cell that he was moved to.

“It is unclear why Judge Pesto said ‘there is no claim about a flood of inmates,'” Pentsas stated in reply.

Pentsas also claimed that he was initially housed on B-Block “to segregate him from the many inmates who expressed to staff they were eager to attack plaintiff (Pentsas).”

In his objection, Pentsas asked that discovery in his case be re-opened to obtain testimony from the counselor who could prove that prison staff was aware of threats against him.

“This lawsuit is not about a monetary amount as much as it is holding ourselves responsible to a bigger standard in hopes that those of us paid to keep each other safe by our tax dollars take that responsibility seriously,” Pentsas concluded.

The series of events that led to the killing on Nov. 10, 2020, began during the morning hours when the victim went to Pentsas’ home to seek return of $400 he had paid for bad drugs.

As the story went, the victim determined Pentsas was not home, but he found a friend of Pentsas working on a car in the garage of the home.

Using a metal pipe, Ozio allegedly administered a severe beating to the friend.

Pentsas, when informed of the assault, and realizing he actually was the intended victim, located Ozio and shot him. His body was discovered in an alley on the 100 block of East Crawford Avenue.

Sisto, in summing up the case, told Kagarise, “It was an emotional time, an emotional situation. Unfortunately (Pentsas) reacted emotionally. He let his emotions get the best of him. … This is a tragedy for both families.”