Carbon County District Attorney Mike Greek is urging local lawmakers to amend legislation relating to sentencing penalties for second degree murder.

On March 26, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a sentence of life without parole for second-degree murder is unconstitutional, absent an assessment of culpability.

They also gave the General Assembly until Friday to amend the legislation relating to the sentencing penalties.

The Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association has taken the position that the General Assembly needs to act immediately to ensure appropriate sentencing and that legislative inaction would leave communities and victims without needed protections.

Greek said in a press release Tuesday, “Although Carbon County is not one of the larger counties in the state, we have our share of second-degree murder convictions which are adversely affected by the Supreme Court decision and which result in significant resources to litigate resentencing for both our office and that of the public defenders.”

Greek participated in a joint letter and press conference of Northeast Pennsylvania District Attorneys’ Offices on July 21 in Wilkes-Barre led by Luzerne County District Attorney Samuel M. Sanguedolce bringing the victims stories and our concerns to local legislators. He also advocated for an immediate amendment to the legislation through letters to state Sen. Dave Argall and Rep. Doyle Heffley.

Cases affected

He cited several cases in his letters to legislators.

In the case of the Commonwealth v. Edward Lusch, charges stemmed from the 1987 burglary of the Weiner home in Mahoning Township and the robbery and stabbing death of 63-year-old Josephine Weiner.

Police found Lusch’s fingerprints on a closet door in the bedroom where the victim’s body was found and on a drawer in another bedroom that had been ransacked.

Greek said Lusch admitted burglarizing the home with an accomplice Wilbur Moyer. He also admitted owning the weapon used to stab Weiner; however, he claimed Moyer took the knife from him when they first entered the home to cut the phone lines.

“He claimed he never touched the victim, and Moyer tied her up. He claimed he heard Moyer struggle with her before they left the residence, but he was already downstairs at the time, inferring Moyer did the killing without his knowledge,” Greek wrote.

A jury convicted Lusch of second-degree murder, robbery and burglary and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

In the case of Brad Mark Ondrovic, Greek said Derek Schock was upset that his mother gave his sister a house but wouldn’t give him any money. He said William Bender drove Schock and Ondrovic to Lyndell Schock’s home in Franklin Township on Feb. 12, 2004.

“Ondrovic held Lyndell Schock down while Derek Schock tried repeatedly to break her neck, and when that didn’t work and the 49-year-old mother recognized her son, Schock slashed her throat,” Greek wrote.

In exchange for his testimony, Ondrovic entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder and sentenced to a term of life imprisonment.

He also cited cases against Kaquan Milligan, Cetewayo Frails and Dennis Boney, who were convicted in October 1997 “turf wars” between rival drug dealers.

The body of Tyrone Hill was found dead by his landlord in Palmerton with a gunshot wound in the back of his head. Myles Ramzee along with Milligan, Frails and Boney were involved in a drug trafficking operation in Carbon and Monroe counties which generated approximately $10,000 a week.

“The four planned to rob Hill of his money and drugs in order to cut into his drug territory,” Greek said.

They went to Hill’s apartment in Palmerton and Boney sat down to play a video game while Frails stood guard at the door.

“Ramzee walked up behind Hill who was bent down to retrieve his clothes and shot him in the back of his head. As Hill started to fall Frails pushed him, causing him to fall face up on the floor. Frails and Ramzee rifled through Hill’s pockets and stole his drugs,” Greek said.

Ramzee was convicted of first degree murder, with Boney, Frails and Milligan convicted of second-degree murder and related charges. Boney and Milligan were sentenced to life plus 11-22 years. Frails, 25, who had no criminal record, was sentenced to life plus 9-18 years.

Life sentences

“As you can see from the above summaries, each of the defendants serving life sentences were actively involved or played a critical role in the intentional murders. As you might imagine, for investigators, witnesses, and prosecutors, these cases take an emotional toll on everyone. For families of the victims, the grief is no doubt unbearable,” Greek wrote.

He added, “A person never was able to be convicted and receive life without parole unless it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly agreed to participate in the above six felonies deemed so dangerous by the legislature that they were likely to result in someone’s death,”

Greek asked that the penalty for second-degree murder include a mandatory minimum and a Life Without Parole maximum. It is vital that judges maintain the discretion to sentence the most violent offenders to life when the circumstances of the case call for it.

“Consistent with third-degree murder provisions, we would ask for higher mandatory minimums for killing law enforcement, children, and murders that involve multiple deaths. Additionally, we would request explicit protection for plea agreements to Second-Degree Murder; these pleas were negotiated for a number of reasons, including potentially removing the death penalty from consideration,” Greek said.

The Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association is taking the position that Lee will apply retroactively and defendants would be subject to release via parole board.

Greek asked lawmakers to pass advisory guidance to the parole board commensurate with our requests above for prospective penalties and to consider extending the times for the parole board to act or reconsider, as they will be dealing with more than 1,100 defendants.

“Finally, and importantly, we ask that you reaffirm victims’ rights to take part in the parole process. It is absolutely critical that their voices are heard in this process” to ensure fairness to defendants, justice to victims, and public safety to our Carbon County community, Greek concluded.