Johnstown man gets 19 to 56 years in intimidation case
Stevenson-Watts spent a year on the run after fleeing charges
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The Johnstown man who fled charges in Blair and Cambria counties and was captured in June 2024 by U.S. Marshals after a year on the run was sentenced in July to about 19- to 56-years' incarceration.
Following a three-day trial by court in front of Judge Jackie Atherton Bernard in May, Robert Lewis Stevenson-Watts, 36, was found guilty of three felony counts of intimidating a witness, single felony counts of retaliation against a witness or victim, criminal use of a communication facility and stalking, as well as five misdemeanor counts each of making terroristic threats and harassment, across three separate but related cases.
Bernard then sentenced Stevenson-Watts in July to 230 to 672 months in a state correctional institution.
The cases were initially filed against Stevenson-Watts when Johnstown police charged him in March 2020 with kidnapping a woman and holding her hostage in the attic of an abandoned house. Online court records state Stevenson-Watts entered guilty pleas to kidnapping and aggravated assault and that he was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison.
The woman previously testified in November 2022 that she learned, on Sept. 9, 2021, that Stevenson-Watts had finished his 18 months and was released from the county prison. On Sept. 10, 2021, the woman said she began receiving social media messages from Kobe Watts, a name that Stevenson-Watts uses. She said he indicated that she owed him money. She also accused him of using slang language to convey to her that he was planning to harm her and that he had someone following her.
He was subsequently sentenced in April 2023 to four- to 12-months' incarceration, followed by three-years' probation, for sending threatening messages.
Following the sentencing, Stevenson-Watts went on the run from law enforcement for nearly a year, since warrants were issued for his arrest in June 2023 regarding probation/parole violations in both Blair and Cambria counties. He was captured in June 2024 by U.S. Marshals in New Jersey.
While on the run, Stevenson-Watts consistently terrorized the victim, which resulted in five protection from abuse violation warrants and three domestic warrants, police said. At the time of his arrest, Stevenson-Watts had a dozen separate warrants for his arrest from both counties. He was ultimately resentenced in the initial case to 12- to 36-months' incarceration and awaited the resolution of the new cases filed against him.
Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.