Dunbar woman denied plea deal for testimony
A Dunbar Township woman charged with the attempted kidnapping of a Uniontown man was denied a plea bargain deal in exchange for her testimony against an alleged co-conspirator in the incident.
During a hearing Friday before Fayette County Court of Common Pleas Judge Nancy D. Vernon, Haley Wiltrout, 25, attempted to enter a guilty plea, but the agreed upon deal between her legal counsel and prosecutors was rejected by the jurist.
“I’m not saying I won’t approve a plea bargain, but it won’t be this one,” said Vernon. “Go back to the drawing board, and come back with something else.”
Prior to her decision, District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. said that in order to aid in the prosecution of another individual involved in the case, he would need Wiltrout’s testimony and therefore offered to drop a felony kidnapping charge and conspiracy to kidnap charge that had initially been filed by police against her.
The deal called for Wiltrout to plead guilty to a lesser charge of intimidation of a witness, with a prison sentence of 9 to 23 months in prison.
Assistant Public Defender Benjamin Goodwin said that his client was willing to accept the plea agreement in exchange for her later testimony.
According to police, Wiltrout along with Heather Woods, of Uniontown, conspired to kidnap Nicholas Wirick, also of Uniontown, during a Nov. 5 incident outside his home. Alfonso Pugh of Uniontown was initially charged in the case, but the charges were dismissed during a preliminary hearing held earlier. A fourth person allegedly in the vehicle at the time of the kidnapping has yet to be identified.
Wirick was scheduled to testify in an aggravated assault case against Blaise Tyler Hinton, 21, of Pittsburgh, on the same day.
Hinton was accused of shooting Wirick in the leg during a July 2011 incident in Pershing Court.
Wirick told police that he was approached outside his home by Wiltrout, and she asked him to get into a car and talk to her.
Once inside, the car doors were locked, with Pugh, Woods and the unidentified man found to be in the car, according to earlier police reports.
During a hearing earlier this month for Woods, Wiltrout testified that the three asked her to coax Wirick out of his house because of her friendship with him.
When she was unsuccessful on the first attempt to draw Wirick into the car, Wiltrout testified Woods got angry.
“We got in a physical altercation in the parking lot because I didn’t get him into the car right away,” she said. “She choked me and said that I was stupid.”
Wirick later jumped from the moving car.
Woods is seeking to have the charges against her dismissed.
Heneks said that Wiltrout was driving her own vehicle during the alleged kidnapping.
Vernon responded that without the car, the kidnapping would not have taken place.
“This goes beyond intimidation,” said Vernon. “She locked the door, and that is kidnapping.”
Wiltrout remains in Fayette County Prison.