YOUNGSTOWN — Prosecutors had worked out a plea agreement with Marquise J. Hornbuckle that would have sent him to prison for 10 years for shooting at two undercover Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers last November on the South Side.

But Hornbuckle, 26, of Evergreen Avenue, didn’t show up for his sentencing Dec. 7. Bail bondsmen picked him up and took him to jail last Thursday.

On Wednesday, Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court told Hornbuckle the plea agreement was rescinded, adding: “I didn’t like the deal to begin with.”

He sentenced Hornbuckle to 29 to 34 1/2 years in prison.

Before announcing the sentence, the judge told Hornbuckle any number of innocent people could have been shot that day.

“When you violate the orders of this court or violate the conditions of bond, all bets are off. There is no deal,” Krichbaum said.

Trooper Larry Skaggs, one of the troopers involved, said he thought the sentence Hornbuckle got was “firm and fair” and “sends a message because of the disregard he showed for the safety of the neighborhood.”

‘WHEN YOU RUN ON ME’

The judge said he didn’t know much about the case when he approved the plea agreement because judges are not supposed to know a lot of the facts of the case prior to trial, Krichbaum said.

But a presentence investigation was conducted and a report was given to the judge. Krichbaum listed an assault and several weapons and drug offenses prior to this case.

“So what happens when you run on me? I’m going to come and catch you somehow” the judge said. “The bonding company took a risk on you, and I took a risk on you. I let you out on bond. We both got it put right in our faces.”

Hornbuckle’s crimes took place at West Warren Avenue and Summer Street on the South Side about 2 p.m. Nov. 8, 2019, while the troopers were investigating the theft of two vehicles, court documents state.

The troopers, who were assigned to the Warren district’s Vehicle Theft and Fraud Unit, were inside an unmarked law-enforcement vehicle. They were working in conjunction with the Youngstown Police Department.

They noticed a white Chevrolet Tahoe with no front license plate being driven in the area of West Evergreen Avenue, then saw it parked at an address on West Evergreen.

The troopers later saw a dark-colored Tahoe owned by the rental company Hertz.

Officers then saw those two Tahoes and a third one traveling fast together on Hillman Street. The vehicles eventually split up.

Two of the Tahoes later returned to the West Evergreen area, and their drivers pulled into the Warren and Summer intersection and blocked it.

SHOOTOUT

The windows went down on one of the Tahoes, and guns were fired toward the troopers, who returned fire and backed up to avoid the gunfire.

The troopers were not injured.

The troopers traveled on West Evergreen, where one of the Tahoes chased the troopers until the troopers activated their emergency lights and stopped in the road to return fire. The Tahoe left the area.

The Tahoe from which the shooting came was later found abandoned at a house on Bonnie Brae Avenue, where police accessed information from a Ring door bell that showed two people entering the house — one of whom was Hornbuckle, the documents state.

Hornbuckle pleaded guilty Oct. 7 to two counts of felonious assault with two seven-year gun specifications for the incident. Hornbuckle remained free on $200,000 bond. The charges were elevated to first-degree felonies because the victims are police officers.

In late October, prosecutors learned that Hornbuckle had gone to Pennsylvania, which was a violation of the conditions of his bond, and Krichbaum issued a warrant for Hornbuckle’s arrest.

‘NO RESPECT’

Mike Yacovone, assistant county prosecutor, said Wednesday the sentence prosecutors recommended earlier was dependent upon Hornbuckle living up to the conditions of his bond, which he did not do twice.

When Krichbaum asked Yacovone whether prosecutors wanted to see Hornbuckle get a longer sentence than 10 years, Yacovone said, “I’m asking you to add time based on the fact that he has shown no respect for the court whatsoever.”

Yacovone noted that Hornbuckle’s bonding company had to spend $21,000 because of the bond violation.

Tony Meranto, Hornbuckle’s attorney, said the plea agreement in the case was “well thought out,” and the highway patrol and judge were in agreement with it.

He said the question now is, “What should be the additional punishment, if anything, over the state’s original recommendation.” Meranto said he felt that Hornbuckle knew his sentencing date and that Meranto had told Hornbuckle to get permission to go to Pennsylvania.

Hornbuckle, who was sentenced over video feed from the Mahoning County jail, did not speak at the hearing or explain why he missed his court hearing. But Meranto said Hornbuckle told him he went to Pennsylvania to take care of a legal matter there.

erunyan@tribtoday.com