Pot conviction brings prison term

Five people were sent to penitentiaries and others to the county jail.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- A West Middlesex man has been sentenced to prison for growing a large quantity of marijuana in his home.
Judge John Reed of Mercer County Common Pleas Court sentenced Jacob Rider, 41, of Wet Track Road, to 11 to 23 months in prison followed by three years' probation for manufacture/possession with intent to deliver, a felony.
According to court documents, Reed was apprehended at his home July 21, 2005, with 93 marijuana plants and 1,103 grams of marijuana as well as 0.66 grams of psilocyn, a hallucinogen. He also had drug paraphernalia, including grow lights, chemicals and other growing equipment, rolling papers and a digital scale.
Also sentenced
Several others also were sentenced, according to court records:
Christopher Cordero, 19, of Delaware Street, Sharon, was sentenced to one to two years in the prison followed by two years' probation for possession with intent to deliver and firearms not to be carried without a license, both felonies. Cordero was apprehended Oct. 2, 2005, at Fruit Avenue and George Street in Farrell, with a 9 mm handgun and 3.7 grams of cocaine.
Gregory Eagan, 22, of Franklin, was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for felony burglary. On Aug. 15, 2005, he broke into a home in Mill Creek Township and took items.
Derick Coulter, 21, of Atlantic, was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison followed by one year's probation on a resentence for felony burglary. Coulter had been placed on three years' probation in May 2004 for an Aug. 27, 2003, burglary at the Pleasant Acres Golf Course, 240 Tower Road, Greene Township. His probation was revoked because he violated probation terms by having a new criminal conviction in Crawford County.
Phillip Root, 26, of New Castle Avenue, Sharon, was sentenced to one to two years in prison followed by three years' probation for theft by unlawful taking or disposition, a misdemeanor. He was declared boot-camp eligible. On Nov. 28, 2005, he took a couch, chair, coffee table and refrigerator valued at $700 from an Orchard Street, Sharon, address.
John Tate, 25, of Malleable Street, Sharon, was sentenced to one to three years in prison followed by two years' probation for a misdemeanor count of corrupting minors. He was declared boot-camp eligible. Tate had been sentenced in July 2000 to five years' probation for exposing himself to an 8-year-old girl at a Farrell home and placing her hand on his genitals. He violated the probation by changing his residence without notice, failing to participate in a sex offender's program and violating his curfew.
Tracy Monteneri, 44, of Mahoning Avenue, Warren, Ohio, was placed on two years' probation for retail theft, a misdemeanor. She and another woman stole a $698 desktop computer from Wal-Mart, 3300 Shenango Valley Freeway, Hermitage, Dec. 24, 2004, by putting it into a shopping cart and trying to push the cart out of the store without paying.
Israel Chapman, 21, of Pittsburgh, was sentenced to six to 23 months in the Mercer County Jail, with work release, for firearms not to be carried without a license, a felony. Chapman was apprehended June 15, 2005, with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol in his vehicle at Dock Street and Bay Way, Sharon.
David Peterson, Jr., 26, of Kirkland Drive, Mercer, was placed on two years' probation for felony retail theft for stealing two packs of cigarettes worth $11 on July 22, 2005, from McKean's Shurfine grocery store, 5 Maple St., Sandy Lake. The offense is a felony because it is his third or subsequent.
Terrance Wells Jr., 19, address listed as State Correctional Institute, Camp Hill, Pa., was placed on two years' probation consecutive to all other sentences for unauthorized use of a vehicle, a misdemeanor. Wells took a 2000 Mercury Cougar without the owner's permission June 5, 2005, from the Orange Village Apartments, Hermitage.