Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

Saturday, August 29, 1998     Page: 2A

WILKES-BARRE- A judge has denied the sentence modification request of a man
sentenced to more than 40 years in prison for a string of burglaries.
   
Robert Mawson, 27, of Pittston, sought to have Luzerne County Court of
Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan reconsider sentencing him on only the most
serious charges, which would send him to prison for at least 17 years.
    Mawson was convicted in June of 45 charges related to a three-county
burglary spree late last year. Police said Mawson mainly stole jewelry, guns,
cash and credit cards.
   
Mawson’s attorney, Charles Ross, filed a motion claiming Conahan’s sentence
was excessive. Ross said Mawson has emotional problems, but he is not a
sociopath and could some day be rehabilitated.
   
“The sentence imposed amounts to a life sentence because (Mawson) will be
66 years old and have no productive years left,” Ross wrote. “The sentence
gives the defendant no hope.”
   
Conahan denied the motion without comment in an order issued Thursday.
   
Teen pleads not guilty to bank robbery try
   
WILKES-BARRE- A 19-year-old man pleaded not guilty Thursday to attempting
to rob a Wyoming bank in June.
   
John Pawloski, formerly of Dallas, made the plea during his arraignment
before U.S. Magistrate Raymond Durkin.
   
The maximum penalty on the charge is 20 years in prison and a $250,000
fine.
   
Pawloski is accused of entering the M&T Bank in the Midway Shopping Center
on June 22. He showed a teller a cloth bag, in which he said there was a bomb,
federal authorities charge. Pawloski is accused of telling the woman he would
blow up the bank if she did not give him $6,000.
   
Pawloski fled the bank as the teller reached for the money, police said. A
police officer caught him a few minutes later.
   
In an interview, Pawloski admitted to trying to rob the bank, but denied
saying he had a bomb or demanding a specific amount of money. He said he
needed the money so he could move to Arizona with his girlfriend’s family.
   
Drug-ring suspects returned to jail
   
SCRANTON- All but one person suspected of running an Exeter Township drug
ring have returned to jail after violating bail conditions by using drugs,
federal court records show.
   
Felecia Mae Miele, 48, of Exeter Township, surrendered to the U.S. Marshals
Service on Aug. 17. Thomas Miele, 49, of Exeter Township, turned himself in on
Monday. Both used an unidentified drug while on bail, authorities say.
   
The last free man, David Tilley, 31, is in a drug treatment program after
violating the conditions of his bail, according to the U.S. Probation Office.
   
A federal grand jury on July 28 indicted eight people based on evidence
compiled during a nearly two-year investigation by authorities. The
investigation by local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies included
several undercover drug buys.
   
Seven suspects were freed on bail, while Bernard Kiwak, 33, remained held
at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility on an unrelated matter.
   
Four suspects returned to custody earlier this month after testing positive
for cocaine use. Lisa Mecadon, 27, of Pittston; Stanley Mastrangelo, 52, of
Exeter Township; John Miele, 51, of Exeter Township; and Timothy Pierce, 32,
of West Pittston, were taken to county prisons around the region.
   
The case is scheduled for trial on Sept. 22 before U.S. District Judge A.
R