MERCER COUNTY Man gets prison for injuring girl, 3

One defendant took more than $1,400 from the Knights of Columbus.
MERCER, Pa. -- A Sharon man will serve a prison term for burning his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter with hot water.
James Root Jr., 39, of Walnut Street, was sentenced by Judge Thomas Dobson in Mercer County Common Pleas court to nine to 24 months in the state correctional facility for recklessly endangering another person. A charge of child endangering was dismissed in a plea agreement.
Root was taking care of the child at a residence on Maple Drive, Pymatuning Township, Jan. 15, 2001, when he poured hot water over her head. The girl was hospitalized with injuries.
Burglary case
In another case, Silvio Marcoccia, 41, of Boyd Drive, Hermitage, was placed on 18 months' probation for felony burglary.
Authorities say he stole cash on several visits in July and August at the Knights of Columbus on Division Street in Sharon. The thefts totaled $1,433.
Several other people also were sentenced.
Jeremy Archer, 24, will serve one to two years for simple assault. He struck a man several times with an ax handle Oct. 28 at an apartment on Elm Street in Sharon. Archer already is doing time in another case.
Gary Nicolls, Jr., 35, of West Moody Avenue, New Castle, was sentenced to 170 days to 18 months for passing bad checks and ordered to make $1,357 restitution to Rex Appliance Store, Hermitage.
Stolen property
Everett McLean, 46, of Hamilton Avenue, Farrell, was sentenced to one to four years in prison for receiving stolen property.
He stole household items, electronic equipment and a camera Jan. 16 from a Darr Avenue residence in Farrell. He was sentenced to time already served and ordered to pay $40 restitution for the theft Aug. 8 of a circular saw from an East Silver Street address in Sharon.
Christopher Vanistendael, 23, of William Flynn Highway, Harrisville, was placed on three years' probation for felony burglary, for a break-in in September or October of a residence on Jackson Center-Polk Road in Worth Township. He took firearms, a telescope, clothing and other items valued at more than $2,000.
Calvin Winchell, 24, of Nimick Street, Sharon, was given concurrent one- to three-year terms on two counts of receiving stolen property. In April 2001, he stole a CD player and holder and miscellaneous items worth $700 from a car at East Silver and Vine streets in Sharon.