SUNBURY - Robert Santore's unusually "high reputation for a confidential informant" that helped solve 30 cases convinced a judge to change his sentence and erase any jail time at the Coal Township man's long-awaited sentencing hearing Thursday.
Santore, 51, of 217 E. Third St., Ranshaw, was sentenced instead by Northumberland County President Judge Robert B. Sacavage to four years of intermediate punishment, including 11 months under house arrest; he will spend the remainder of the time on probation.
Before handing down the sentence, Sacavage addressed Santore's work as an informant and the eight-year delay between the alleged crime and sentencing.
"There has been a lot of public criticism about the case and some consternation," Sacavage said. "However, if the delay gave police the ability to resolve a number of crimes and put more notorious individuals behind bars, so be it."
Evidence to that effect was presented not only by Santore's lawyer, but by a Coal Township police detective who was contacted by phone from the courtroom Thursday.
At first, 11 to 24 months
Santore was facing sentencing on plea agreements he had made to a charge of criminal conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance from December 2005 and two counts of criminal conspiracy to commit theft by unlawful taking from October 2006.
On the drug offense, he was to be sentenced to 11 1/2 to 24 months less one day in prison outside of Northumberland County due to safety concerns, two years probation and a $3,000 fine. On the theft offenses, he was to be sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison on each, running concurrently with the drug sentence, fined $1,000 each and to pay restitution to the two victims.
However, Santore's attorney, Chris Lovecchio, asked if the sentence could be done under house arrest, since the 2008 plea agreement reached for both cases said the DA's office was not opposed to house arrest and since Santore had helped several law enforcement agencies from 2006 to 2009 as an informant. That included cases involving state police and federal investigations.
Detective phones in
Sacavage asked for proof of such assistance, at which point the hearing was recessed while Coal Township police detective Jeffrey Brennan was called. A few minutes later, Brennan testified via phone that Santore's information helped police successfully prosecute 30 cases, and that they might not have been successful without him.
After the testimony, Sacavage granted the request.
"I have never seen such a high reputation for a confidential informant," he said. "Based on that, I will reconsider the sentence."
"I'm very pleased with the sentence. I thought it was very reasonable," Lovecchio said following the hearing.
"He's been a great help with his methods and information," county assistant district attorney Michael Toomey said. "It all helps in bringing the bigger criminals to justice."
Santore did not make any statement during or following the court proceedings, leaving the courtroom with his wife to begin making the arrangements for monitoring.
Sacavage also ordered the defendant to help make restitution totaling $18,949.82 to the two victims in the thefts: Lewis Moore, of Ranshaw, and Jody Forbes, of Burnside, along with probation fees and court costs.
Long odyssey
Thursday's hearing marked the end of the odyssey of Santore's case, in which sentencing was delayed time after time, the most recent coming Monday, when Santore arrived late for his sentencing, but his attorney had already left the courthouse.
"I thought the 29th was Tuesday, so I wasn't here on time, your honor," Santore said when explaining why he was late Monday.
Sacavage commended Santore for his help to the district attorney's office and police.
Most notably, it was Santore's testimony that helped convict Cornell and Diane (Reichwein) Delvalle, of Coal Township, in 2012 on charges of distribution of crack cocaine.
On March 26, 2012, Sacavage sentenced Cornell Delvalle to 15 1/4 to 35 years in state prison and ordered him to pay approximately $1,000 in fines plus an assortment of costs. His wife was sentenced to serve 27 months to 8 years in a state correctional institution for her role.
At his sentencing, Cornell Delvalle said in a statement he'd like to receive the same deal Santore got for cooperating with police and the district attorney's office as an informant.