Former Pagans leader Katona granted 1 month delay to report to county prison
May 26—The former national leader of the Pagans motorcycle club will have an additional period of freedom before he must report to the Westmoreland County Prison to serve out the remaining months of his sentence on prior drug offenses.
Dennis "Rooster" Katona, 54, of Hempfield was expected to turn himself in at jail on Friday to resume serving his 40- to 80-month sentence, but a court order signed Wednesday by Judge Tim Krieger pushed back the report date to July 2.
When Katona eventually reports to the prison, he will — at least for a short time — be held in the same facility as the man police contend shot up his home earlier this month as part of a crime spree in which two people were killed in Penn Township.
Victor Steban, 53, of North Huntingdon is being held at the prison without bond on charges he shot and killed Jacob Erdeljac, 41, and Mara Casale, 27, on May 16. Police also charged Steban in connection with shooting at Katona's home and two other residences, arson of his own home, the theft of a truck and weapons offenses — all with in hours of the fatal shootings.
Prior to a court appearance last week, Steban told reporters the motivation for his crime spree was "all about getting Rooster."
"He won't stay there long," Deputy Attorney General Mark Serge said of Katona's expected stay at the county prison. "He'll be transferred to a state prison. But, if he has to be there (at the county lockup) longer, I'm sure they have systems in place to accommodate difficulties between inmates."
Prison Warden Bryan Kline said precautions will be put in place to keep Katona and Steban apart.
According to court records, Katona must serve about 5 1/2 months in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Defense attorney Paul Boas in court documents filed earlier this week said Katona is in poor health and suffers from "morbid obesity, leukemia, diabetes and coronary artery disease." He wrote that Katona underwent a cardiac catheterization procedure May 21 and is scheduled to meet with a surgeon Friday to schedule open heart surgery.
The judge ordered Boas to submit written verification that Katona had surgery and provide additional documentation of his prognosis and recovery time by June 4.
Katona was convicted of two counts of possession with intent to deliver and two counts of possession of a controlled substance after a police raided his home in July 2011 and found 84 grams of cocaine and nearly 100 grams of methamphetamine — with a combined street value of $20,000 — and $4,000 cash.
Katona initially was released from prison on an unsecured bond in December 2016 after his conviction was overturned by a three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court. In 2018, the Superior Court reversed its ruling and reinstated Katona's conviction.
The state's Supreme Court upheld the conviction in October.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293, rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .
