CLEARFIELD – A Curwensville man accused of being involved in a conspiracy to assault and rob a man pleaded guilty Monday.
The charges stem from an incident on Oct. 6 at a Powell Avenue residence in Hyde where the man was attacked, police say.
One of the defendants reportedly admitted that they targeted the victim because they knew he had drugs. A bag containing 21.75 grams of crystal methamphetamine was recovered from one of the suspects.
In court Monday, the charges against Paul Harold Hoyt, 35, were modified by First Assistant District Attorney F. Cortez “Chip” Bell.
Bell asked President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to add the misdemeanor charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and criminal mischief and drop several of the other charges including conspiracy/robbery and theft.
He explained that after reviewing the affidavit, he realized the evidence didn’t support these offenses as Hoyt only moved the victim’s vehicle and was not directly involved in the robbery. Hoyt was, however, found to be in possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Hoyt’s attorney, Christopher Mohney, agreed to this change. He asked Ammerman to consider giving Hoyt a county sentence because he has already served 296 days in jail.
He stated that Hoyt, who has a history of drug abuse, was doing better with the substance abuse programs at the jail, then he had done previously with state prison programs.
Hoyt, himself, addressed the court and apologized to the victim and his family.
Ammerman granted Bell’s motion to amend his charges, and sentenced Hoyt to six months to two years in state prison for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Hoyt also pleaded guilty in two other cases to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance for which he was given an additional sentence of three months to one year in state prison.
In July, John L. Irwin, 40, of DuBois one of the two charged with assaulting the victim using baseball bats, forcing him to remove his clothes and stealing his wallet and phone before ordering him to leave the scene, also pleaded guilty.
Ammerman sentenced Irwin to serve three to six years in state prison for felony counts of conspiracy/theft by unlawful taking and theft by unlawful taking, as well as misdemeanor unlawful restraint, terroristic threats and possessing instruments of crime.
The criminal complaint details how the victim was driving around with Bradley Alan Maines, 47, of Woodland before they went to the Hyde residence and Maines met with Hoyt.
Once on-scene, Maines exited the victim’s truck and talked with Hoyt as they walked around the property. After the victim got out of the vehicle, he said two men came from behind him, striking him in the legs/shin area with baseball bats, he told officials.
They assaulted him and ordered him to take off his clothes before robbing him and forcing him to leave.
The victim explained he ran and hid on a property near Riverview Road. There he found a box near a church with clothing, which he put on to “make himself look decent.” After this, he went to a nearby home for help.
He said he did not know who the two men who attacked him were as they were wearing masks. Later he named Irwin, and Jason Roy Sipe, 44, of Hyde as suspects.
While investigating the incident that night, a police officer spotted Taylor James Wisor, 35, of Hyde, and Hoyt, who was wanted by state parole, in Wisor’s vehicle as it entered the Hyde car wash and stopped in a manual wash bay. Hoyt was in the passenger seat.
While he spoke with Wisor, Hoyt was moving around and reaching numerous times into the center console. After the officer spotted a metal tube style pipe, he requested another officer remove Hoyt from the vehicle to detain him as part of the investigation.
When Hoyt was checked for weapons, the other officer found a knife and saw. He also reportedly found a container with approximately one ounce of crystal methamphetamine.
Wisor consented to a search of his vehicle where police found a wooden bat on the floor of the back seat. They also found the victim’s cell phone and case.
The victim’s truck was driven to Mann Road and left there, Wisor said.
Although he initially claimed he was asleep during the assault, in an interview with investigators, Wisor began to cooperate and admitted to his part in the attack.
Later, Hoyt told him they needed to get rid of the truck. Wisor said he drove his vehicle, following Hoyt in the truck. Hoyt, whom he said was under the influence of a controlled substance, struck a mailbox around Montgomery Run Road.
Hoyt took the saw and the plastic bag with numerous small plastic bags suspected to be full of methamphetamine from the truck, Wisor said. This was the same bag later taken from Hoyt.
Sipe, Maines and Wisor have also signed plea agreements and are scheduled to be sentenced in September.