Sentence given to man for threats

Jack Allston resigned his $93,000-a-year position as head of an organization.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. --The director of an eight-county economic development organization was placed on house arrest Thursday for threatening a church recital director after his wife was removed as pianist.
Jack Allston, 55, of Tionesta, was sentenced by Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John Reed to one month's probation under the house arrest program for disrupting meetings and processions and harassment, both misdemeanors.
Allston resigned his $93,000-per-year position as head of the Northwest Regional Planning and Development Commission after being charged last spring. Mercer County is one of the eight counties that make up the commission.
According to court documents, on April 30, Allston entered the Church of the Epiphany Episcopal Church, 870 Liberty St., Grove City, during a recital rehearsal and began yelling and addressing music director Diana Walters in a threatening manner. Walters had told Allston's wife, Tanya, that her services as a pianist were no longer needed. Allston refused to leave the church when asked and told Walters, "You don't know what I can do to you. I work for the government." He pleaded guilty to the charges in September.
Other action
Several others were sentenced Thursday by Judge Reed:
Michael Baker, 38, of East Market Street, Mercer, was sentenced to six to 23 months for delivery of a controlled substance, a felony. On March 9, he was apprehended in the parking lot of a Mercer convenience store with 0.57 grams of methamphetamine. He was also ordered to make restitution for the cost of drug testing.
William Burt, 52, of Victory Drive, Sharpsville, was sentenced to 30 days to 23 months for retail theft, a misdemeanor. He was given credit for 47 days served. On July 14, 2004, he stole a $350 Kitchen Aid mixer from a Hermitage department store.
Franklin Ellis Jr., 21, of Maple Drive, Greenville, was sentenced to four to 23 months in state prison and ordered to make restitution for two counts of possession with intent to deliver, a felony. He was arrested April 10 at a West Salem Township home with one-eighth of an ounce of crack cocaine. He also had 0.77 grams of crack cocaine Aug. 10, 2004.
William Kaufmann, II, 38, of Sandy Lake-Greenville Road, Sandy Lake, was sentenced to one to two years in prison followed by two years' probation for manufacture of a controlled substance, a felony, and harassment, a summary offense. On Jan. 9, he was apprehended at his home with a dozen marijuana plants growing in water and three small bags of dried marijuana. The same day he grabbed a woman and struck her head several times on the window of a vehicle, causing bruises and scrapes.
Brandi Thomas, 24, of Sherman Avenue, Sharon, was placed on two years' probation and ordered to make restitution for theft by unlawful taking or disposition, a misdemeanor. Between November 2004 and April 2005, she took two credit cards and five checks from a West Middlesex woman and used them to obtain $11,922 worth of money and property.
Judge Thomas Dobson sentenced the following people this week:
Joseph Byerly, 31, of Baldwin Avenue, Sharon, was placed on two years' probation and ordered to make restitution for misdemeanor forgery. In December 2004 he cashed six stolen checks in Sharon for $2,575.
Julius Hopson, 36, of Beechwood Avenue, Farrell, was sentenced to nine to 18 months in prison and ordered to make restitution for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, a felony. On Oct. 24, 2004, he was apprehended at Hamilton Avenue and Idaho Street, Farrell, with 0.23 grams of cocaine.