Greene County judge sentences Ariz. man for resisting arrest, prison escape
WAYNESBURG — A suspect who pleaded guilty to escaping from the Greene County Prison in June and other charges stemming from an incident in February was sentenced Thursday in Greene County Court to serve 54 months to 10 years in prison.
Rocco J. Iacovone, 27, formerly of Glendale, Ariz., was arrested stemming from a Feb. 13 police pursuit that began in Marion County, W.Va., and ended in Greene County, according to reports.
He was charged with resisting arrest, recklessly endangering another person, fleeing and attempting to elude police and various summary offenses under the vehicle code.
Following his arrest, he was placed in Greene County Prison, and he pleaded guilty to the charges in May.
On June 22, Iacovone and another inmate, Jason William Roe, 32, formerly of Daisytown, escaped from the prison by using a picnic table to scale a fence.
They were apprehended near the prison about two hours after they hopped the fence, according to police reports.
After receiving notice of the escape, law enforcement officers joined other state police troopers from the Waynesburg station and two aircraft to search the area.
The aerial units were able to spot the suspects, who were running through a field along Garards Fort Road, police said.
Both men were subsequently taken into custody without incident by troopers working on the ground, police said.
On Thursday, Iacovone pleaded guilty to the escape charge and was sentenced by Judge Farley Toothman for both the February and June incidents. In regards to the February case, he was sentenced to serve six to 12 months for resisting arrest, 12 to 24 months for reckless endangerment and 18 to 36 months for fleeing and attempting to elude police. For the escape charge, Iacovone was sentenced to serve 18 to 48 months.
All of the sentences are to run consecutively.
Iacovone was also ordered to pay $4,137 in fines as well as $300 in restitution to state police.
Roe, meanwhile, is scheduled to appear for trial in November in Greene County Court in the shooting death of Cordele Edward Patterson.
According to police, Patterson was shot multiple times with a shotgun by Roe at a secluded hunting cabin in Greene County last year.
Roe was charged with criminal homicide and aggravated assault. His wife, Lana Kay Roe, also was charged in the death.