Mahoning judge for third time denies early release to felon

YOUNGSTOWN — For the third time, a county judge has denied early release to a man he sentenced to four years in prison for breaking a woman’s eye socket while pistol-whipping her on Aug. 26, 2011.

Judge Lou A. D’Apolito Mahoning County Common Pleas Court this week denied the request by Gerald Hardaway, 32, of Ravenwood Avenue, to be released from the Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield. The judge sentenced Hardaway in May 2012 after Hardaway pleaded guilty as charged to felonious assault.

The victim and the prosecutor opposed early release for Hardaway, who fired two shots at the woman as she left the scene of the attack.