SHARON From life in prison to a life on parole

Pinkins has spent the past year living in a halfway house in Sharon.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Ricki D. Pinkins was a young man of just 23 when he was handed a life sentence in prison for his role in the 1982 robbery and slaying of a bartender.
On Feb. 18, he will walk away from the state prison system, essentially a free man at age 43, having been granted a sentence commutation by former Gov. Mark Schweiker.
Although Pinkins will no longer be incarcerated, he will be on parole for the rest of his life.
Pinkins lived in Farrell when he got involved with several other young men planning the robbery of Porreca's Restaurant on New Castle Avenue in January 1982.
Pinkins didn't actually participate in the robbery, but authorities said he supplied the gun used in the slaying of Orland Porreca, 67, known as Peanuts, who was shot in the back during the robbery.
Porreca died two days later.
Pinkins was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery for his part in the crime and, in June 1983, was sentenced to life imprisonment on the murder count plus five to 10 years on the conspiracy charge.
Applied for parole
He filed an application with the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons in late 2002, asking it to recommend that the governor grant him a commutation of his sentence from life imprisonment to life on parole.
James Epstein, Mercer County district attorney, said that neither he nor sentencing Judge Francis J. Fornelli, Sharon police or surviving members of Porreca's family objected to the bid for commutation.
Pinkins had minimal involvement in the actual crime and cooperated with authorities during the investigation, Epstein said.
A spokesman for the Pardons Board said those seeking commutation argue that they have been rehabilitated and cite a good prison record.
The board approved Pinkins' request in December 2002 and Schweiker signed the commutation order in January 2003.
It was the first commutation granted since Pennsylvania voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1998 requiring a unanimous recommendation by the Pardons Board.
Pinkins was moved from the regular prison system to the Sharon Community Corrections Center, a halfway house for prisoners nearing a release date, in February 2003.
Requirements
As a condition of his commutation, Pinkins had to complete a one-year pre-release program and not commit a parole violation or be convicted of a crime.
Violation of parole would mean revocation of his commutation, Schweiker said at the time.
Pinkins declined to be interviewed for this story, but Marcia Combine, director of the Sharon Community Corrections Center, said he has fulfilled all the requirements of the pre-release program, including finding a job and an acceptable place to live once he is released.
"He's done very well," Combine said.
Pinkins plans to stay in Sharon.
A spokeswoman for the state Board of Probation and Parole said conditions of his parole include no possession of firearms or alcohol in his home, maintaining employment, no visiting of any business selling or providing alcohol (without prior approval by a parole supervisor), no contact with the victim's family, payment of a $25 monthly supervisory fee and no contact with any of his co-defendants or Anthony D. Wells.
Others involved
Wells, 21 at the time, was accused by authorities of planning and participating in the robbery but was acquitted of murder, robbery and conspiracy charges by a jury in May 1982.
Two others charged in the case, Alfred Boatwright, now 46, and Albert Phillips, now 53, both of Sharon, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and were sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison.
Both have since completed their sentences and been released.
Henry A. Bruce Jr., now 46, formerly of Farrell, fired the fatal shot but always said the gun went off accidentally. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and Eugene L. Grannison, now 48, formerly of Sharon, was convicted of second-degree murder, robbery and criminal conspiracy.
Both are serving life sentences.