MERCER COUNTY COURT Man sentenced for setting New Year's fire

Another man received a jail term for stealing cigarettes.
MERCER, Pa. -- A Hermitage man was sentenced to four to 14 years in prison Tuesday for setting a house fire on New Year's Day to cover up a theft.
Judge Thomas Dobson of Mercer County Common Pleas Court sentenced George Bilunka Jr., 37, of North Water Avenue to the term for arson and theft by unlawful taking, both felonies. According to court documents, Bilunka started the fire in the basement of a Farrell home Jan. 1 to conceal his theft of $2,000 worth of jewelry and collectible coins.
Several others were also sentenced Tuesday:
U Gary Golub Sr., 38, of Prospect Street, Sharon, was sentenced to 18 months to six years in prison for theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and unauthorized use of a vehicle, all misdemeanors. According to court documents, on March 10 he held a personal check, telling the woman who wrote it that the bank wouldn't cash it. He asked her to write another, then cashed both checks. On May 9, he took $138 worth of coins and clothing from a Sharon home. On June 10, he took a 1996 Chrysler Sebring worth $2,000 from a Sharon residence without the owner's permission.
ULouis Anderson, 39, of Utica, Pa., was sentenced to six to 18 months in jail for criminal trespass, a felony, disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and public drunkenness, driving during suspension and criminal mischief. According to court documents, on Jan. 22 he demanded entry to a 72-year-old woman's home in French Creek Township. When she refused, he kicked in the door. Once inside, Anderson struck, shoved and kicked the woman, causing her to have a heart attack. She was later treated at a Venango County hospital.
UDonald Ash, 36, of Vandergrift, Pa., was sentenced to six to 12 months in jail followed by five years' probation with house arrest for retail theft, a felony. He was also ordered to perform 10 hours of community service per month while on probation. Ash pleaded guilty to stealing four cartons of cigarettes worth $130 from a Hermitage store in July 2003. The offense is a felony because it was his third or subsequent offense.
UJames Lebron, 20, of West Main Street, Grove City, was sentenced to 18 months in jail and six months on house arrest for misdemeanor resisting arrest, harassment, underage consumption of alcohol and criminal mischief, all summary offenses. According to court documents, on March 13 Lebron pushed a woman several times and put his hands around her throat at a residence on Highland Avenue in Grove City. He ripped all phone lines out of the residence and pushed a man against a wall, causing him to fall and cut his arm. When Grove City police arrived, he tried to cut them with a knife.
UJeffrey Pumphrey, 20, address given as Lycoming County Jail, was sentenced to one to two years in prison for simple assault, a misdemeanor, for grabbing a woman and pushing her against a wall at a Sharpsville home July 13. Pumphrey was also sentenced to a concurrent one- to two-year term with boot camp for an earlier assault conviction, and a consecutive six- to 24-month term for recklessly endangering another person. He had been placed on probation in 2002 for the earlier charges, but the probation was revoked because of the July assault.
UJeremy Sees, 30, of Stevenson Road, Masury, Ohio, was sentenced to one to two years in prison and ordered to make restitution for burglary and theft by unlawful taking, both felonies, and driving during suspension. According to court documents, in January 2003 Sees conspired with a minor to enter McIntyre Mobile Home Sales office in Lackawannock Township and steal a 1993 Chevy truck worth $6,000. He caused $500 in damage to an office door and furnished the15-year-old who accompanied him with several cans of beer.