CLEARFIELD – The case against a former mayor of Osceola Mills who is accused of shooting at and threatening two men in a parking lot has finally been resolved.
In March 2022, Ida Reams, 52, of Osceola Mills was charged with two counts each of simple assault, terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person as well as driving under the influence in relation to an incident when she reportedly shot at two men playing Pokemon Go in an Osceola Mills parking lot.
Previous attempts at plea agreements in the case were rejected by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman. She was back before him on Monday during sentencing court in Clearfield County.
An additional complication with this case is that Reams had been diagnosed with cancer, which has spread, her attorney, Joshua Maines explained.
Her medications are impacting her immune system, which is a concern if she is incarcerated. These drugs require she take them at the same time each day, which could be difficult at the county jail. She also needs regular injections from a doctor in Pittsburgh, he said.
He asked Ammerman to allow her to serve her time on home detention, noting she had already served eight days in the jail where she was unable to get her medications.
Reams addressed the court saying she was cancer free when she was incarcerated but during her time in the jail, she was not given the medication designed to keep cancer from returning.
“If they had done that, I might not be dying now,” she said.
Within a few weeks of her release, she said the cancer was back. She stated she doesn’t have a problem with going to jail, but she would not stop taking her medications again.
She urged Ammerman to “please let me die in peace.”
Ammerman noted that he wasn’t pleased with the plea agreement, but the case needed to be resolved and this was “probably the best this is going to be.”
He then sentenced her to serve four months to one year in the county jail with three years and six months probation for two counts each of terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person.
She was given an opportunity to report to the jail on Jan. 11, which allows her medical records to be reviewed to determine if she is a candidate for incarceration before she can be given home detention.
In January 2023, a plea required she serve seven days to one year in the county jail for the same charges. After this was rejected, in March she was back in court for a sentence of four months home detention. This was also rejected, and the case scheduled for jury selection.
But, when the trial was set to begin in October, officials discovered neither of the victims were available to testify. One had been subpoenaed but didn’t show up for court and the second could not be located after he was released from state prison in an unrelated case.
At that time, District Attorney Ryan Sayers commented that the victims “have been hostile since the beginning” of the case, which was one of the reasons they withdrew two counts of aggravated assault at that stage and offered the other two plea agreements.
According to the affidavit, Reams called police saying she was in a parking lot at the corner of Curtin and Lingle streets. She claimed two men there looked “suspicious” so she asked where they were from and why they were there.
She explained that she was “receiving a lot of harassment in this town” and she was “done”, adding that “it’s gonna be bad.”
The two individuals told police they were playing Pokemon Go in the lot when they were approached by Reams. They described Reams as “clearly intoxicated.” She reportedly fired a gun four or five times.
