Niles woman gets 2 years for role in fatal attempted burglary

Staff report

WARREN

Mindy C. Sierra, 32, of Niles, one of two women police charged with participating in a Niles break-in that resulted in the death of one of the purported burglars, received a two-year prison sentence Tuesday.

Sierra, of East Federal Street, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and attempted aggravated burglary before Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

In exchange, prosecutors dropped a murder charge she faced. She will serve three years’ probation after leaving prison.

Police said Sierra and Nichole Allen, 35, of Mineral Ridge, were in a vehicle that dropped off Allen’s husband, Terry Allen, 37, and two other men at a house on Niles-Cortland Road near U.S. Route 422 July 2.

But while the three men were attempting to break into the house, the homeowner woke up and fired a shotgun through the front door, killing Terry Allen.

The homeowner was cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting.

One of the other men on the front porch with Terry Allen was Michael Burns, 34, of Mineral Ridge.

Burns was convicted at trial last month of involuntary manslaughter and attempted aggravated burglary and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The jury found him not guilty of murder for Terry Allen’s death.

The third man charged in the case is Scott Crislip, 18, of Niles. He and Nichole Allen still face charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and attempted aggravated burglary.