Warren man agrees to plea deal in manslaughter case

WARREN -- A Warren man has agreed to a 51/2-year prison sentence in a plea bargain with prosecutors rather than face trial again on voluntary manslaughter and other charges.
His trial ended in a hung jury late last month.
Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court sentenced Robert C. Williams, 27, recently to four years on voluntary manslaughter, one year on a gun specification and six months on a charge of having weapons under disability.
The gun specification originally would have added a mandatory three years to Williams' sentence, said assistant Trumbull County Prosecutor David Toepfer. The plea agreement dropped that portion of the sentence to one year.
The charges stemmed from the shooting death of Orson Provitt, 29, of Jackson Street, Warren, who was killed April 30 at the Golden Stallion bar in Warren Township.
Williams admitted shooting Provitt but said he did so in self-defense.
A jury was deadlocked in late October after spending more than two days deliberating in the case. A mistrial was declared after the jury couldn't decide on the voluntary manslaughter charge and gun specification. The jury did return a guilty verdict on a charge of having weapons under disability.
Judge Kontos had revoked Williams' bond, and he was being held in Trumbull County Jail pending sentencing. Williams had been free on bond since before the trial began.