Recording brings jail time
A Cranberry Township man was sentenced to county jail in Butler County Court on Thursday, after being charged in two cases, including threats to his wife and illegally recording police during a traffic stop.
Marcus A. Fair, 32, was sentenced to a total of 3 to 6 months in the Butler County Prison by Judge William Shaffer. His parole will be followed by 1 year of county probation. He was also ordered to pay court costs and a $200 fine.
Fair previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor terroristic threats, disorderly conduct and summary driving on a suspended license in two cases on March 22.
He was initially charged with felony intercept communications, misdemeanor false reports to law enforcement, disorderly conduct and a number of summary violations including driving without a license, driving with a suspended license and a registration violation after an incident on Feb. 8, 2017; and misdemeanor terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person after an incident on Sept. 17, 2017. The remaining charges were dismissed as part of the plea.
In the February 2017 incident, Buffalo Township police said he refused to stop audio recording his conversation with a police officer during a traffic stop on North Pike Road.
The officer reportedly recognized Fair as someone whose driver’s license has been suspended, according to court documents. She stopped the vehicle and asked the driver to provide his license, proof of insurance and vehicle registration, according to court records. Fair, according to court records, questioned why he was stopped and the officer told him that it was because she recognized him.
Fair then responded that his driving privileges had recently been restored, but he did not have the license, registration or insurance card with him, police said. Court records state the officer then confirmed with emergency dispatchers that Fair’s registration had expired in January.
As she was talking, the officer noticed Fair had his cell phone on his thigh and was using it to record the conversation.
The officer, according to court records, told the man that he did not have permission to record her voice and repeatedly asked him to stop before taking the phone, turning off the recording, arresting Fair and having his car towed.
Fair previously pleaded guilty in that case to misdemeanor false reports, disorderly conduct and summary driving on a suspended license, before later withdrawing that plea and asserting his innocence.
In the September incident, Buffalo Township police said Fair threatened his wife with a kitchen knife during a domestic dispute at their Jacks Mobile Home Park residence on Linda Drive. Police said the woman reported that Fair “took the knife to her and began stabbing at her face and neck, not making contact,” according to court documents. No injuries were reported.
Fair’s attorney, Marvin Leibowitz, said the threat incident was a result of a “problem between him and his wife” and the woman was attempting to withdraw a protection from abuse order against Fair. Fair spoke during the proceeding, saying that he and his wife were “trying to reconcile.”
The woman was in court during sentencing proceedings, but left the courtroom before Fair was sentenced.
Fair had previously been sentenced to probation in October on two assault cases, also involving his wife, that occurred on March 12, 2016, and April 23, 2016.
