MERCER COUNTY Grocery store clerk gets 18 months of jail time for fraudulent refunds

A Farrell man is going to prison for preparing to distribute cocaine.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- A judge sentenced to jail a grocery store clerk who stole $39,000 by making fraudulent refunds.
Deborah Clark, 32, of Grove Street, Greenville, was sentenced Monday to four to 18 months in jail for theft by deception, a felony, by Judge Thomas Dobson of Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
Court documents say that between January 2001 and July 2002, Clark made up to $70 in fraudulent transactions daily at Giant Eagle, 2357 E. State St., Hermitage.
Several others also were sentenced Monday.
UAnthony Crim Jr., 19, of Hamilton Avenue, Farrell, was sentenced to 21/2 to five years in jail and ordered to make $105 restitution for possession with intent to deliver, a felony. He was apprehended July 20 at the Hamilton Avenue address with 10 ounces of crack cocaine and 49.5 grams of marijuana. He also had a digital scale and a box of plastic bags commonly used for storing the drugs, according to court documents.
URobert Deitz, 35, of Harley Way, Sharon, was sentenced to 15 days to 18 months in jail for misdemeanor simple assault for an Oct. 7 fight on South Irvine Avenue in Sharon. Court documents say he punched a man in the face, breaking his jaw and inflicting a cut that required stitches. Deitz also was ordered to make $1,233 restitution to the victim.
ULorenzo Ham, 23, of Wallis Avenue, Farrell, was sentenced to nine to 24 months in jail for possessing crack cocaine with the intent to deliver. On Dec. 6, 2001, he was apprehended on Fruit Avenue, Farrell, with an unspecified amount of cocaine. He was given 72 days credit for time served.
UCharles Edward Harrison III, 26, of Buhl Terrace, Farrell, was sentenced to three to 18 months in jail for a firearms violation and assessed costs for possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. A judge also ordered him to make $520 restitution. Court documents say that on Aug. 17 he was apprehended in the 900 block of Spearman Avenue, Farrell, with less than an ounce of crack cocaine and a .45-caliber automatic pistol.
URichard Hice, 41, of First Avenue, Sharon, was sentenced to two to 22 months in jail for recklessly endangering another person, a misdemeanor. On Nov. 1, while intoxicated, he pointed a loaded 20-gauge shotgun at a 5-year-old boy and a woman, court documents say.
UKathryn Hoover, 28, of Mount Hickory Boulevard, Hermitage, was placed on 18 months' probation for misdemeanor theft. On Oct. 5, she took a box of checks, jewelry, a bottle of wine and other items worth a total of $88 from a Hermitage resident, court documents say.
UDavid Kushay, 49, of Dutch Lane, Hermitage, was placed on 18 months' probation for misdemeanor resisting arrest. On Oct. 1, he grabbed Sgt. Daniel Lesheski of the Sharon Police Department, struggled and used offensive language while being placed in a cruiser and later at the Southwest Regional Police Department on Roemer Boulevard, Farrell.
UCynthia McGee, 37, of West 10th Street, Greenville, was sentenced to one year in jail for possessing firearms without a license and one year's probation to be served consecutively for simple assault. Both offenses are misdemeanors. On Oct. 9, she pointed a handgun at two women at the Dairy Queen, 3102 East State St., Hermitage, court documents say.
URichard Smith, 41, of Hadley Road, Greenville, was sentenced to six to 12 months in jail and ordered to pay $300 restitution for misdemeanor theft by unlawful taking. On Oct. 8, he took a checkbook from Iron City Sash & amp; Door, Pine Tree Drive, Sandy Lake, then forged and cashed a check for $300 at a Meadville bank, court documents say.