Forgiveness keeps addict out of prison

WEST CHESTER >> A heroin addict who stole from his employer but straightened out his life after his arrest was placed on probation Wednesday instead of being sent to prison, partially because his former boss, who had a “fatherson” relationship with the man, asked the judge not to send him to jail.

“He’s my friend,” said businessman Robert Tucker of defendant Ryan M. Colestock, who appeared in Common Pleas Court for sentencing on charges of burglary and theft, related to months of stealing items from a storehouse of antiques and collectibles Tucker kept in West Whiteland. “He apologized and we shook hands. I just feel Ryan’s made a positive move forward and prison won’t help anything.”

Colestock, a promising musician who graduated from West Chester University in 2013 after becoming addicted to opiates there, had taken more than $40,000 in items such as chandeliers, paintings, metal work, and two World War II vintage rifles to an Exton pawn shop, where he traded them for about $2,000 in cash, which he used to buy heroin.

The thefts took place over about seven months in 2015 and 2016. Colestock had worked as a handyman for Tucker for more than six years, developing a close relationship both men described as family-like.

Colestock, 25, of West Whiteland, had pleaded guilty to the charges in December. Judge Anthony Sarcione, before sentencing Colestock, expressed amazement at Tucker’s forgiveness, noting that it was a change from what he had initially expressed in a letter in which he asked for prison time to be made part of the sentence.

“That doesn’t happen too often,” Sarcione said. “It speaks to the quality of the victim here.”

Sarcione sentenced Colestock to seven years of proba-

“He apologized and we shook hands. I just feel Ryan’s made a positive move forward and prison won’t help anything.” — Robert Tucker, businessman

tion, above the nine to 23 months in Chester County Prison that the prosecution had sought. However, he ordered the first four months of the probation served on house arrest, meaning that Colestock could only go to work or his drug treatment programs for that length of time. He also ordered Colestock to repay Tucker $40,100 for the property he lost.

The judge said he made his decision based on a number of factors that pointed in Colestock’s favor, even though he considered the burglaries “a serious offense.” Chief among those favorable points were his “true remorse” and Tucker’s request that he not impose jail time. He also noted that Colestock had pleaded guilty, cooperated with police, and had gotten a job and was working to pay back the money he owed.

“He seems to have turned a corner,” Sarcione said after listening to Colestock’s apology to Tucker and his own family for his crimes. “To place him in a prison setting … would be counter-productive to our community. It would not benefit our community.”

As Sarcione pronounced the sentence that would keep Colestock out of prison, Tucker could be seen clasping hands with his wife in the rear of the courtroom, seated not far from Colestock’s family. After the proceedings were over, the families stood outside in the hallway hugging one another, including Colestock and Tucker.

The thefts were uncovered

by Tucker from the property he owns on Clover Mill Road in Exton in April. He first contacted West Whiteland Detective Scott Pezick about finding a variety of items missing, including stained glass and antique lamps, and pointing to a front window that might have been used to gain entry. Ten days later, on May 10, Tucker returned to the police station, saying he had set up video cameras inside and outside the house, catching Colestock entering and leaving with a box of items.

Pezick contacted Colestock, and he met with the police later that day to confess and point them to the American Gold and Estate Buyers pawn shop, where he said he had sold the items. A manager there said he had been accepting items from Colestock for about seven months. Many

of the items were still in the store, but some — including one of the rifles taken — were not.

In making her presentation to Sarcione for why a prison sentence would be appropriate, Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Morgan pointed to the thefts of the two weapons as what made the case a serious one. But she also noted that the relationship between the victim and the offender made it deserving of such punishment.

“We are talking about a pretty serious breach of trust,” Morgan said. “He stole to fuel his drug habit.”

But defense attorney Dawson R. Muth of the firm of Lamb McErlane of West Chester argued that the guns stolen were not the type that might end up in some drug-related crimes, like semi-automatic pistols. And his client’s “eloquent”

recitation of his work at sobriety and serious commitment to repaying Tucker should count towards his remaining free and employed, Muth said.

“Give him an opportunity to show the world that he is on the right track,” Muth urged the judge.

During his statement to the court, an emotional Colestock said how ashamed he had been over the way his addiction to opiates and heroin had changed him from a “compassionate, caring” person into: a liar, cheater, and manipulator.

“I became the person I never wanted to be, and that I despise the most,” Colestock told the judge. “Words cannot express the shame, guilt, and sorrow I feel for committing these crimes. I feel so horrible for what I have done.”

In addition to apologizing

to Tucker, Colestock also told his family, who had come to support him, what he had done. His employer, Paul McKeon of McKeon Concrete and Masonry, also spoke on his behalf.

After handing down his sentence, Sarcione cautioned Colestock not to reoffend or violate his probation, promising that a long jail term could still be in his future if he did. He also pointed to the influence that Tucker’s forgiveness had on his decision to keep him from a prison term.

“The person you victimized, I hope you appreciate what he said here today,” Sarcione said.

“More than anything,” Colestock responded.