Quincy man sentenced for theft

A Grant County Superior Court jury found Hector Hernandez Velazquez, 23, guilty of theft in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor.

EPHRATA — A Quincy man was sentenced for theft, after charges of burglary and kidnapping were dismissed.

A Grant County Superior Court jury found Hector Hernandez Velazquez, 23, guilty of theft in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor.

He pleaded guilty to theft in the third degree in exchange for the prosecutors not retrying him on a charge of possession of a firearm. The jury couldn’t agree whether he was guilty of the crime.

Judge John Antosz followed the prosecutor’s recommendation, sentencing the man to four months in jail. Hernandez has prior convictions for malicious mischief and burglary, leading to a sentencing range of four months to a year.

Prosecutors accused Hernandez Velazquez of breaking into a Quincy residence where his son’s mother and several of her friends were watching television, according to a Quincy police report. Reports varied about whether he drew a gun, but the witnesses told police a gun was visible.

Witnesses told police Hernandez Velazquez and three friends, who weren’t named in the police report, grabbed a boy and left.

Prosecutor Angus Lee said the kidnapping in the second degree charge was dropped after prosecutors discovered Hernandez Velazquez and the woman hadn’t set up a parenting plan.

“It became legally impossible to pursue kidnapping charges and, in the interest of justice, that count was dismissed,” Lee stated. “The burglary was dismissed by the court after witnesses testified that the defendant had been invited into the home. We objected to the dismissal.”

Prosecutors considered filing the burglary charge a second time, after the jury couldn’t reach a decision on the two other charges, but decided a new trial wouldn’t have succeeded any better, he stated.

“In making this determination we considered the fact that the witnesses changed their testimony as to whether or not they’d actually seen a gun,” Lee stated. “Although they had said so at the time, all but one witness really backpedaled and were uncooperative with the prosecution.”