Youngstown woman sentenced to 6 years in prison for Liberty hostage situation

Staff report

WARREN

Sandra M. Pavelko-Smith, 49, of Everett Avenue and Seneca Street in Youngstown, was sentenced to six years in prison Monday for holding eight people hostage at a house on Hadley Avenue in Liberty in 2014.

She received her sentence from Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Pavelko-Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, five counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary.

Pavelko-Smith and Kenneth Macek, 69, of East Parkside Drive in Youngstown, were charged in the May 18, 2014, incident, in which she forced her way into the house, causing a three-hour standoff with police from Liberty, Girard, Warren and Youngstown.

Eventually, the eight people were released from the home, including a girl, 4.

A woman hiding in the basement alerted police to the situation.

Pavelko-Smith and Macek put all of the hostages in one room, the victims said.

The incident stemmed from a dispute over a car, which the hostage-takers said had been stolen from them. Police found the car in a doughnut-shop parking lot not far away.

The victims told police Pavelko-Smith and Macek took their cellphones from them so they couldn’t contact the police and that Pavelko-Smith had pointed her gun at victims’ heads, threatening to kill all of them.

Pavelko-Smith struck one of the victims, a 40-year-old woman, in the head with the gun at least a dozen times. It left bumps, but she did not require medical treatment, police said.

The only other injury reported was to Pavelko-Smith, who was bitten by a pit bull during the incident. Pavelko-Smith received medical care at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for the wound.

Macek pleaded guilty in April to burglary and obstructing justice and was sentenced in July to five years’ probation.