A rural Tyrone man, 42-year-old Jeffery Sprankle, scheduled for a burglary trial last week agreed to plead ‘no contest’ to a lesser charge of carrying a loaded weapon.
The move came when the prosecution’s key witness in the case failed to show up for trial. Sprankle had been accused of entering the residence of a rural Altoona man during the early morning of July 7, 2005 and taking a rifle from the victim’s bedroom.
Assistant District Attorney Terry Tomassetti said Sprankle allegedly entered the man’s home through the back kitchen door. A woman who was present in the victim’s home observed him. Tomassetti said the female witness indicated Sprankle entered the victim’s bedroom while he was sleeping and then exited with the gun. He then left the premises.
Tomassetti said Sprankle told the woman that he planned to go hunting. She said he did not have the rifle when he entered the house. The victim called police to file a report. Tomassetti explained the two men knew each other and there had been some type of previous dispute between the two. He had told Sprankle he was not allowed in his home.
Later on July 7, state police stopped Sprankle while he was driving. A previous Daily Herald article said Sprankle was accused of driving under the influence that day after an incident at the intersection of State Route 865 and 4021 in Antis Township. Tomassetti said police had been looking for Sprankle after getting the burglary report.
Tomassetti said Sprankle was driving a vehicle that was registered to his deceased father at the time he was stopped. Police asked Spankle if they could search the vehicle, but he refused. The vehicle was impounded and a search warrant was obtained. A gun was found that was identified as the one taken in the burglary.
Tomassetti said he spoke to the victim about three weeks before the scheduled trial to go over his story and the man confirmed things had happened the way he had said they did in his statement to police. He also said he was willing to testify against Sprankle. Tomassetti said a letter was sent the next day to inform the victim of the scheduled trial date and a pre-trial meeting that was set for April 10. The victim failed to appear at the April 10 meeting or call the DA’s office.
A follow-up letter was sent the next day to tell the victim of the trial date and to get the victim to meet with the DA’s office ahead of the trial. The letter explained the victim’s cooperation and testimony were essential to the case. Tomassetti said a visit was paid to the man’s home in an attempt to reach him, but authorities were unable to contact him. Other attempts were made by phone to reach the victim.
Tomassetti noted that the victim had been in the presence of a state trooper the week before Sprankle’s trial on an unrelated matter. The DA’s office became aware of this and asked the trooper to confirm if he was going to appear at the trial. The victim told the trooper that he did plan to appear at the trial. Tomassetti said a call was made to the victim’s phone the day before the trial in an attempt to confirm his appearance.
Tomassetti said, “I was extremely surprised he wasn’t there. I don’t know why he didn’t appear.”
The assistant DA said he was “extremely displeased” about the victim’s failure to appear for Sprankle’s trial. Without his testimony, the prosecution decided the burglary charge would be hard to prove and the deal to accept the no-contest plea on the loaded weapon charge was worked out.
Sprankle will receive a jail sentence of 90 days on the lesser charge. Burglary and other charges in the case were dismissed. Sprankle claimed he had already served the 90 days.
Court records show that he was arrested on Aug. 4 and posted bail on Nov. 28 of last year. However, Tomassetti explained it’s not up to the prosecution or the judge in the case to make a decision about Sprankle’s time served. He said that determination would have to be made by the parole and probations department. It was not clear if Sprankle’s time in jail would count toward the charge he pled “no contest” to last week or would apply to another matter.
