Man placed on probation
A Harmony man charged in two burglary incidents was sentenced to time served and probation in Butler County Court on Thursday.
Ryan J. Stockman, 24, was sentenced to six to 23½ months in Butler County Prison, with immediate parole on time served, as well as two years' probation by county Judge Timothy McCune, after pleading guilty to charges of felony conspiracy to commit burglary and criminal trespass on May 10.
He also was ordered to pay $200 in fines and $1,294.97 in restitution. McCune also issued an order removing his SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring) bracelet, which he has worn since he was released from the county facility on July 13, 2016, and that his probation may be moved to Tennessee, where his parents currently reside.
Stockman was charged after two incidents that occurred on Sept. 7, 2015, and June 25, 2016.
In the 2015 incident, he was charged alongside four other people after allegedly breaking into the house of a friend's former boyfriend in Lancaster Township. He was arrested and charged by state police, leading to a sentence on Feb. 17 into Butler County's Accelerated Disposition Program. As part of the program, which is designed for first-time, nonviolent offenders, Stockman was ordered to serve 24 months' probation. ARD was later revoked after the 2016 charges.
The 2016 incident occurred in Buffalo Township where Buffalo Township police arrested him after he tried to open a window in the back of a house in the 300 block of North Pike Road while the homeowners were sleeping.
Stockman was arrested drunken, barefoot and shirtless, and was held in the county jail on $15,000 bail until he was released on July 13, 2016.
Stockman's attorney, Nicola Henry Taylor, said he has no prior record, and the incidents stemmed from alcohol use which Stockman turned to after he “experienced tragedy with his sibling being murdered.”
The incident she referred to was the shooting death of Thomas “T.J.” Stockman, 21, of Portersville on April 17, 2014. Jeremey Sickenberger was later charged and sentenced to 18 to 40 years in prison for the crime.
After that incident, Stockman's parents moved to Tennessee, and Stockman continued to live in Butler with his grandparents, Taylor said.
“He understands now he needs to address the grief and alcohol problems,” Taylor said. She asked that the probation be allowed to transfer to Tennessee, so Stockman can rejoin his parents, where he has employment lined up.
