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WILKES-BARRE — Scott Sargent’s centuries-long prison term was only part of the story Thursday as prosecutors made a shocking revelation about a jailhouse tattoo the defendant now bears on his forearm.
The tattoo features a skull hovering over five tombstones — tombstones marked with the names of the officers Sargent tried to kill outside the Walmart in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas ordered Sargent to serve a staggering 179 to 358 years in prison for the Walmart incident in October 2015.
Meanwhile, while calling the tattoo the most disrespectful thing he’s seen in his time as a lawyer, Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino is actually glad Sargent decided to get it.
“I want him to be reminded every day of his failure; I want him to remember every day that his last act as a free man was a failure,” said a passionate Ferentino in court.
“He failed to put them (the officers) in their graves … I want him to be reminded every single day those individuals are why he’s spending every day in jail.”
Ferentino added that he has found it an honor to stand in court on behalf of the officers he called heroes for their actions that day.
“They’re not just victims,” Ferentino said. “I count them as friends.”
Sargent, 33, of Shenandoah, tried to argue during his October trial that he did not see any officers outside Walmart and only fired to protect his girlfriend because he believed two people were following them.
‘No remorse’
Stacey and Conor Bouton are the wife and son of Wilkes-Barre Township Officer Brian Bouton — who was forced to duck out of the way when Sargent fired a bullet through the windshield of a police vehicle.
They told the court they will never forget that day.
Conor read a letter he wrote to the court, saying he feared his father wasn’t coming home.
Stacey spoke directly to Sargent, referencing dark details of abuse and drug use from Sargent’s past that were brought up at his competency hearing but were blocked by prosecutors from being mentioned at trial.
“I hope this reminds you of the impact you’ve had on other people,” Stacey told Sargent directly. “I know your upbringing wasn’t the best, but that doesn’t give you the right to take it away from other people.”
She also called his tattoo “very appalling. It shows he has no remorse.”
Shooter stays silent
Sargent’s defense attorney, Joseph Yeager, spoke only briefly. He asked Lupas to take Sargent’s history of substance abuse and mental health issues into account when handing down his sentence.
Yeager said both of Sargent’s parents were dead, with his mother dying shortly before the Walmart incident. Yeager called her death “the straw that broke the camel’s back” for Sargent.
“A big part of him also passed away on that day,” Yeager said of the mother’s death.
Yeager explained Sargent understood the severity of the sentence he was likely to receive, and he was very unlikely to ever leave prison as a free man. He then echoed what Ferentino had said, agreeing Sargent’s tattoo would serve as a constant reminder of the shooting.
When Lupas asked Sargent if he wished to say anything to the court, Sargent merely shook his head, not even asking the judge for leniency.
Before issuing the sentence, Lupas said he would take into account Sargent’s troubled past, but would also consider previous convictions he apparently had not learned from.
Lupas also spoke to the families of the police officers involved, referencing Conor Bouton by name, telling them they should all be proud of the work their family members did that day.
‘Pathetic’
Wilkes-Barre Officer Alan Gribble, who ultimately brought the harrowing confrontation to an end by firing shotgun pellets into Sargent’s abdomen, said he thought the tattoo was a “joke” when he first heard about it.
“It just shows exactly what kind of person he is,” Gribble said.
When asked if he thought Sargent’s tattoo was appalling, Gribble answered differently.
“Pathetic,” he said. “Pathetic would be the best term to describe it.”
Sargent said nothing to the media as he was led out of the Luzerne County Courthouse.
After his trial in October, Sargent left the courthouse with a smile on his face. This time, his expression was stoic.
Lupas sentenced Sargent as follows:
• 10 to 20 years for each of five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, each to be served consecutively, or one after the other.
• 20 to 40 years for each of six counts of assault on a law enforcement officer, each to be served consecutively.
• Seven to 14 years on an aggravated assault charge, to be served consecutively to the other terms.
• One to two years for each of several reckless endangerment charges.
• 90 days for a harassment count.
Lupas also gave Sargent credit for 790 days time served and ordered him to pay thousands of dollars in restitution to the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office, State Police, Wilkes-Barre Township for vehicle repair and to Wilkes-Barre Township Officer Jude Allen.
A remaining charge of possession of a firearm by a felon, which was severed from the rest of the charges for trial, was withdrawn by prosecutors.