A three-judge state Superior Court panel has upheld the prison term and consecutive probation being served by a Blythe Township man for stealing a piece of coal-mining equipment in February 2012.
Justin M. Marx, 24, of Cumbola, must serve the prison sentence and probation, Senior Judge John L. Musmanno wrote in the panel's seven-page opinion filed Friday in Pottsville.
Prosecutors produced sufficient evidence to show Marx had violated his probation by committing further crimes, thereby justifying the new sentence, Musmanno wrote.
As a result, Marx must serve nine to 23 months in prison, along with 12 months of probation, the sentence imposed on him by county Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin.
Marx originally pleaded guilty on Sept. 7, 2012, to theft, receiving stolen property and defiant trespass, with prosecutors withdrawing charges of burglary and driving under suspension. At that time, Dolbin sentenced him to spend four years on probation and pay costs, $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $1,666.66 restitution.
State police at Frackville alleged that on Feb. 9, 2012, Marx entered a building owned by Kuperavage Coal Co. and stole a dragline engine block. Marx admitted his crimes when interviewed, police said.
Dolbin revoked Marx's probation on March 27, 2013, ruling prosecutors had proved he committed new crimes, and imposed the sentence which the Superior Court upheld.
Musmanno wrote in the panel's opinion that, when seeking to revoke a defendant's probation, prosecutors need to prove their allegations by a preponderance of the evidence instead of beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors did so in the case against Marx, Musmanno ruled.
"The Commonwealth proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Marx had violated the terms of his probation," he wrote.
President Judge Emeritus John T. Bender and Judge Jack A. Panella, the other panel members, joined in Musmanno's opinion.