Mahanoy City teen pleads guilty to stabbing, sentenced to up to 13 years in state prison
POTTSVILLE — A 16-year-old former Mahanoy City boy charged in an Oct. 26 stabbing in the borough will spend up to 13 years behind bars at a state correctional facility.
The defendant, who is now being held in Lehigh County Jail, was sentenced Wednesday to 6½ to 13 years in state prison by Schuylkill County Judge Christina E. Hale after he pleaded guilty to a felony count of robbery, a felony count of aggravated assault and a misdemeanor of simple assault.
Under a plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed all other charges for the defendant, including a felony count of attempted homicide.
The Republican Herald typically withholds the names of juvenile defendants.
Police said the teen stabbed Marquis Hettrick, of Mahanoy City, in the diaphragm, liver and lung when they met for a marijuana sale in the borough on Oct. 26.
The defendant, who was 15 at the time, was buying one-eighth of an ounce for $20, Hettrick told police.
The defendant, who was represented by Public Defender Kent D. Watkins, said that he willingly chose to enter the guilty plea rather than go to trial in June.
Hale ordered the defendant to pay $300,853.54 in restitution to Geisinger.
He was also ordered to pay $254 for a DNA sample, $100 to the Crime Victim Compensation Fund and $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Act.
The judge said that the defendant would receive 202 days of credit for time served in prison since Oct. 27.
The defendant had initially been committed to Schuylkill County Prison before being moved to the juvenile block in Lehigh County on April 2.
