Philadelphia court upholds Windber man’s sentence
Marone violated probation terms multiple times
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The Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia last week upheld a prison sentence of an area man who initially traveled to Michigan for the purpose of engaging in illicit sex with a minor, but who, upon his release from custody, committed numerous additional violations.
Paul A. Marone Jr., 47, of Windber was sentenced in 2011 by a district judge in Michigan to a prison term of 36 months, followed by four years of supervised release.
In an opinion issued by Appeals Court judges Michael A. Chagares, Emil J. Bove and Anthony J. Scirica, it was explained that Marone was released from prison in 2015 and that supervision of his probation was transferred to the Western District of Pennsylvania.
The court's opinion explained, "Almost immediately, however, Marone's probation officer filed a petition for revocation of supervised release, alleging that Marone had obtained multiple undisclosed cellphones that he used to engage in explicit communications with minors, view pornography and travel out of the district -- all which violated terms of his supervised release."
District Judge Kim R. Gibson in Johnstown revoked Marone's release and then imposed a sentence of 24 months behind bars to be followed by five more years of supervised release.
Marione filed an appeal with the Third Circuit Court which, in turn, upheld the new sentence.
In 2017, Marone was again released to supervision.
In 2019, a second revocation was requested, because Marone once again violated his probation by obtaining undisclosed cellphones, used several social media accounts, communicated with a minor and obtained nude photos from the youngster.
He was sentenced to another two years in prison, plus two more years of supervised release.
After his release from that sentence, his probation was revoked again for stalking a 19-year-old woman, and, it was alleged, he repeatedly visited a gym and a baseball field where minors were present.
He admitted to the stalking charge, but the charge from the supposed visits to places where minors were prevalent were dismissed because the opinion stated the government had not met its burden of proof.
Marone received another 24-month jail sentence to be followed by 180 days in a residential reentry center and 180 days of home detention.
That sentence also included five more years of supervised release.
Marone appealed the sentence to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
He charged the sentence on this third revocation was "procedurally unreasonable" because the judge did not explain why he imposed the sentence, and the judge failed to "consider certain relevant sentencing factors."
The appeals court panel explained that a sentencing judge must adequately explain a sentence to allow for a meaningful review by the judges hearing the appeal.
But, with respect to Marone's latest sentence, the panel concluded, "The District Court readily cleared the benchmark in this case."
For instance, the sentencing judge noted he was "deeply concerned by the stalking offense" which paralleled his initial case where Marone went to Michigan in pursuit of a young girl.
The sentencing judge related that Marone was a serial violator who showed little concern for the conditions of his release and posed an ongoing danger to the community.
While the latest sentence of 24 months behind bars was above the sentencing guideline range, in the Marone case, it was both reasonable and necessary in light of the serious nature of the violation as well as Marone's previous violations of his supervised release, the judge stated
"We cannot conclude on this record that there was a procedural error in the district court's explanation of Marone's sentence," the panel stated in support of the sentence.
State court records state that Marone was also sentenced in Blair County to 22 months' probation on charges of stalking. That sentence involved an offense committed May 20, 2022.
The sentence was imposed by former Blair Judge Elizabeth Doyle.