kstephens@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG An Altoona man will contest first-degree murder and related charges filed against him in the November death of a 29-year-old Hollidaysburg man.
During formal arraignment in Blair County Court on Tuesday, 35-year-old Vasilios Pentsas Jr. acknowledged his entry of not-guilty pleas to his criminal charges and advised Judge Daniel J. Milliron that he wants a jury trial.
Altoona police arrested Pentsas in November and accused him of killing Andrew Ozio who was found dead on Nov. 9 in an alley on the 100 block of East Crawford Avenue.
Police said Ozio was lying in a pool of blood with three gunshot wounds, one each in his neck, chest and head. A lead pipe and three .40-caliber casings were found near Ozio’s body.
pray@altoonamirror.com
The Pennsylvania Superior Court late last week upheld a decision by Blair County Judge Daniel J. Milliron in which he awarded attorney fees and interest amounting to more than $274,000 in a civil case involving a plaintiff who died in 2014.
In making his ruling in 2019, Milliron found that an insurance company had acted in “bad faith” and “with a purpose motivated by self interest” in its handling of a claim by an Altoona woman who suffered severe injuries in a motor vehicle accident that occurred along Logan Boulevard more than 20 years ago.
Milliron’s decision also indicated his support for an arbitration award of nearly $600,000 received by the women’s estate.
kstephens@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG An Altoona woman who engaged in the creation of child pornography through photography and sexual activities, apologized Friday in Blair County court where she was sentenced to 9.5 to 25 years’ incarceration.
“I’m sorry for my actions,” Kara Tornatore, 31, told Judge Daniel J. Milliron, who later told Tornatore that her apology rang hollow.
“You provided the opportunity for Mr. (Stephen) Apostolu to prey on these children,” Milliron said. “The court does not accept your apology.”
Milliron sentenced Apostolu in December to his recommended sentence of 12 to 25 years’ incarceration, followed by five years’ probation. His charges included aggravated indecent assault of a child, indecent assault and numerous counts of manufacturing child pornography, possession of child pornography and trafficking of minors.
kstephens@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG Two men injured in an October 2019 fight in Altoona, including one who was stabbed nine times, are each facing four years’ probation for criminal offenses, but only if they come to an agreement on the restitution they owe to each other.
Blair County Judge Daniel J. Milliron declined Monday to accept plea agreements for Joseph S. Clemens, 57, of East Freedom, and for Travis L. Swab, 27, of Altoona, after hearing Swab’s defense attorney raise questions about the requested $5,391 in restitution.
“We haven’t seen any restitution figures,” defense attorney Thomas M. Dickey told Milliron.
The judge advised Dickey that without his client’s consent to the proposed restitution, Swab’s criminal charges would remain on hold. Then the judge negated Clemen’s plea agreement rendered earlier in the day, which included his restitution payment of $2,500 to Swab.
HOLLIDAYSBURG Blair County Judge Daniel J. Milliron will retire at the end of this year.
Milliron, elected to a second 10-year term that started in January 2016, was supposed to remain on the bench through the end of December 2025.
“I’ll be 66 this year,” Milliron said Monday when asked for the reason behind his pending retirement. “It’s time.”
In a written statement, Milliron said he had given “much thought” to the idea of retiring and expects to offer additional statements closer to the end of the year.
“No, I’m not going to change my mind before then,” he said.