MERCER COUNTY Man faces prison terms in robbery

A Sharon man is going to prison for violating his probation.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- A Mercer County judge sentenced a man to consecutive prison terms for robbing a drugstore and then trying to intimidate a witness to the robbery.
Judge Michael Wherry of Mercer County Common Pleas Court sentenced Timothy Kays, 45, formerly of Grove City, to 72 to 240 months in prison for robbery and 35 to 70 months for criminal solicitation of a witness, both felonies.
The robbery: Court documents say Kays robbed the Eckerd Drug Store in Pine Grove Square, Pine Township, on Jan. 20, 2001. He went to the pharmacy counter with his hand in his coat pocket, indicated he had a weapon, and demanded a store employee place OxyContin and other pain medications in a plastic bag.
In February 2001, Kays offered to pay an undercover agent $1,000 to go to the drugstore and intimidate a witness, court records say.
Kays has an extensive criminal record and served eight years in prison for a 1978 bank robbery in Pittsburgh. He also spent time in prison on 1982 and 1983 convictions for robbery in Mercer County.
Also sentenced: A Sharon man also was sentenced Wednesday to consecutive prison terms after violating his probation.
Calvin Winchell, 24, of Fourth Avenue, Sharon, was sentenced to one to five years for a 1999 conviction for misdemeanor theft by unlawful taking for entering several vehicles on West Park Street in Hermitage and stealing more than $3,000 worth of items.
He also was sentenced to one to two years for a 2001 misdemeanor conviction on receiving stolen property for stealing $30 in cash and two videotapes from a Hermitage residence.
Winchell had been placed on probation for the offenses, but he violated the terms in February by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault.
Jack Rainey Jr., 21, of Indiana, Pa., was placed on five years' probation for a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property for being caught in Greenville in October 2000 with two stolen chain saws.