Uniontown man sentenced for witness intimidation
A Uniontown man convicted earlier this month of intimidating the victim in a rape case will spend an additional three to six years in prison.
Derrick Young, 31, was found guilty of the lone count of intimidation of a victim following a brief trial in Fayette County Court earlier this month and on Thursday, Judge Steve P. Leskinen ordered the additional jail time for Young to be served consecutively with his sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison for rape.
Young was charged in the intimidation case on Feb. 9 after he told the woman he was convicted of raping, “You better hide, you’re gonna see me again.” Young made the statement while being led from a courtroom after he was convicted of rape, aggravated assault and other charges and was overheard by Uniontown police Detective Donald M. Gmitter, among other witnesses.
HeraldStandard.com does not identify victims in sexual assault cases.
In the rape case, Young held a barber’s straight razor to the woman’s throat at a park in Connellsville on Aug. 3, 2010, and then sexually and physically assaulted her.
When she tried to run from him, he hit her in the back of the head.
A nearby resident ultimately called 911, and the woman was able to get away.
She needed 20 stitches to her forehead and three staples to the back of her head to close wounds. She was also treated for a hairline fracture to her throat.
In that case, Judge Nancy D. Vernon sentenced Young to 15 to 30 years in prison.
Defense attorney Brent Peck called on Leskinen to show leniency toward his client and requested that any sentence in the intimidation case run concurrent with Vernon’s sentence.
“Essentially, Ms. Vernon took Mr. Young’s head off,” Peck argued.
However, Leskinen said that a concurrent sentence would be inappropriate and would do little to deter such an action in the future.
“This was obviously not an intelligent thing to do,” Leskinen said.
Assistant District Attorney J.W. Eddy prosecuted the case.
Peck said he intends to file a post-sentence motion on behalf of his client as well as an appeal of the conviction.