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Final two defendants in beating death get long state prison terms

The remaining two defendants who comprised a group of four who beat to death with baseball bats a 21 year old man were sentenced Thursday to long jail terms in Schuylkill County court. The assault took place in a wooded area off Old Mill Road in East Union Township.

Andrew Tutko, 20, of 129 S. Hancock St., McAdoo, was sentenced by Judge Charles M. Miller to serve 20 to 40 years in a state correctional institution and Jeffrey Allen Gombert, 20, Hazleton, was sentenced to serve 25 to 50 years in a state institution. Each must also make restitution jointly of $4,800 to the Victims Crime Compensation Bureau. They join Curtis Todd Foose, 26, Hazleton, who early this month was sentenced to serve 47 1/2 years to 95 years and Shane D. Roof, 21, Palmerton, to serve 47.9 years in a state correctional institution.All four had previously entered guilty pleas to murder in the third degree and robbery after a plea bargain in which District Attorney James P. Goodman agreed to drop charges of murder in the first and second degree.The prosecuting officer was Trooper Edward Lizewski whose police report states he found Anthony Locascio, 21, of Hazleton, lying in a wooded area off Old Mill Road in East Union Township.A motorist who had stopped near the scene discovered the body on Sept. 15, 2009, and reported it .The police report states Locascio was found stripped of clothing and jewelry.An autopsy report showed he died of a fractured skull and had received 60 to 80 blows by baseball bats from the four defendants who had lured the victim to the spot. Locascio was beaten on the head, chest, arms and body.