Jeannette man seeks to withdraw rape plea 7 years later

Rich Cholodofsky, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
·2 min read

Sep. 8—A former Jeannette man serving decades behind bars for three different crimes wants to withdraw a guilty plea he entered more than seven years ago to charges that he raped a woman and held her captive for a week.

Derrick Cobbs, 45, now claims the plea he entered was not done so knowingly, voluntarily or intelligently.

"The defendant was not sentenced. A guilty plea petition was not completed nor were any post-sentence rights read to the defendant," wrote defense attorney Emily Smarto in court documents filed on Wednesday.

According to court records, Cobbs pleaded guilty to charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and aggravated assault on Sept 8, 2014, and was sentenced that same day to serve 5 to 10 years in prison. Eight counts, including one kidnapping offense, were dismissed.

Smarto did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Police claim that, in 2009, Cobbs held a 23-year-old woman captive in a home for a week while he raped and assaulted her before she eventually escaped. The woman testified against Cobbs during a 2010 trial that ended abruptly without a verdict. A mistrial was declared after a witness testified she had been threatened by a friend of Cobbs before the case went to court.

Cobbs subsequently was released from the Westmoreland County prison in error following the mistrial and was recaptured two weeks later in Florida.

His guilty plea came four years after the mistrial and a month after another judge ordered Cobbs serve 16 to 40 years in prison for eight offenses from another case, including charges that he possessed and intended to sell heroin, cocaine and painkillers at his Jeannette home in 2009.

In 2012, Cobbs was convicted of aggravated assault for attacking a prison guard when he instigated a riot in the jail's cafeteria because vegetables were placed too close to pasta on his meal tray. He was sentenced to serve another 10 to 20 years in prison in the assault case.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293, rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .