CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — A Rimersburg man has been sentenced to up to two years in prison after pleading guilty on charges related to the Abuse of a Corpse.
33-year-old Joel Tanner Stark was sentenced to one year less one day to two years in Clarion County Prison, which is the maximum allowable under the law for the misdemeanor of the second degree crime, Abuse of a Corpse.
Stark had previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Abuse the Corpse of Devan Knapp. Miss Knapp died as a result of a heroin overdose after being injected with heroin by Shawn Carr.
Stark then conspired and assisted Shawn Carr in placing Ms. Knapp’s body in a rural location in Millcreek Township, Clarion County and staging an accidental overdose in January 2013.
During the sentencing hearing, Clarion County District Attorney Mark Aaron presented a letter to Judge James Arner on behalf of the victim’s mother, which requested that Stark be sentenced to the maximum possible under the plea agreement which was an open plea, meaning that the sentence was up to the judge.
During the hearing, the Commonwealth acknowledged that the prosecution of Shawn Carr who was previously sentenced to 8-16 years for Drug Delivery Resulting in Death, along with other crimes, would not have been possible without the cooperation of Joel Tanner Stark; and the victim’s family was in support of his plea agreement.
Carr was later sentenced to 20 to 60 years in prison for parole violations in Jefferson County.
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
