Pottstown man faces prison for stabbing

NORRISTOWN » A Pottstown man faces up to two decades in prison for stabbing another man during an attempted strong arm robbery in the borough.

Jonathan C. Jackson, 29, of the unit block of West Walnut Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 10 to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of robbery and conspiracy to engage in robbery in connection with a January 2019 incident in the borough.

The sentence was imposed by Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the case. Jackson, who was represented by defense lawyer Scott McIntosh, pleaded guilty to the charges shortly before jury selection was to begin for his trial

“By pleading guilty to felony robbery he admitted that in the course of committing a theft he inflicted serious bodily injury on (the victim),” county Assistant District Attorney Evan Correia explained.

Court records indicate Jackson has a previous aggravated assault conviction and the latest conviction represented a socalled “second strike” under state law. The 10-to20-year prison term was a mandatory sentence under the “second strike” law.

“This is a second strike mandatory for this defendant. It was important for us to get him off the streets for as long as possible. He’s a dangerous individual as his conduct in this case shows. So it was important for us to seek that mandatory,” said Correia, explaining the significance of the state prison term for Jackson.

The investigation began about 1:10 a.m. Jan. 20, 2019, when borough police were dispatched to the 400 block of East High Street for a report of a stabbing. Arriving officers found a male victim who sustained four stab or laceration wounds to his back and side, according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Detective Heather Long.

The stabbing incident followed an earlier confrontation between the victim and Jackson during which Jackson punched the victim and demanded money from the victim, according to prosecutors. Jackson and two women, Jaida Elizabeth Dudley and Yanerie Hernandez, then followed the victim and assaulted the victim in the vestibule of an East High Street apartment, prosecutors alleged.

“All three of them were beating on him, kicking and punching him. (The victim) fell to the ground and ultimately the defendant (Jackson) took out a grey folding knife and stabbed (the victim) in the back four times,” Correia alleged.

Prosecutors alleged Dudley and Hernandez then entered the victim’s apartment and assaulted a woman who also was living there. Dudley, Hernandez and Jackson then ransacked the apartment and got away with debit cards and a checkbook, according to court papers.

Dudley, 19, of the 400 block of Jefferson Street, Pottstown, previously pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in connection with her role in the incident and was sentenced to 4 to 8 years in prison as part of a plea agreement.

Hernandez, 18, of Diamond Street in Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to identical robbery-related charges in connection with the incident and is awaiting sentencing, according to court records.

The stabbing victim was taken to Reading Hospital Tower Health where he underwent surgery for his wounds.

“He had lost a massive amount of blood and he actually lost his pulse while at the hospital and coded. They were ultimately able to resuscitate him,” Correia said.

Prosecutors said most of the items that were stolen from the apartment were subsequently recovered by detectives.

In a second unrelated incident, Jackson pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of an instrument of crime, specifically a brick, in connection with a December 10, 2018, incident in Pottstown. With that charge, borough police alleged Jackson threw a landscaping brick at another man during a disturbance on West Street. The brick missed hitting the victim and traveled through the storm door of the victim’s residence, according to court documents.

Jackson was sentenced to one to three years in state prison for the brick tossing incident but that sentence will run concurrently with the sentence Jackson received in the robbery

“It was important for us to get him off the streets for as long as possible. He’s a dangerous individual as his conduct in this case shows.”

- Montgomery County Prosecutor Evan Correia