2 receive prison time for firing gun at car
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YOUNGSTOWN -- A Trumbull County man and woman were each sentenced to 3 to 4 1/2 years in prison Tuesday for firing guns at a car.
They were trying to retrieve the vehicle Dec. 9, 2022, from a relative on Elmwood Avenue near Meridian Road in Austintown.
They are first-time offenders, one of whom apologized in court to the residents of Austintown.
Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney handed down the sentence after Merrissa C. Durda, 34, of Forest Spring Drive SE, Howland, and Austin D. Swiger, 24, of High Avenue, Niles, pleaded guilty to improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation.
Both fired a gun at the car, resulting in at least one shot hitting a nearby house, said Mike Yacovone, county assistant prosecutor.
"Guns were fired in a residential area," Yacovone told Sweeney.
RECKLESS ACTIONS
Yacovone said a relative had taken a car belonging to Durda and Swiger. They found the car and fired guns at it, as it was being driven away, while trying to get it back.
Yacovone called their actions "reckless." No one was injured.
He said prosecutors feel that "the ends of justice are served with some type of prison sentence."
Prosecutors were recommending 3 to 4 1/2 years in prison and judicial release after six months.
Yacovone said he thinks it is a fair resolution, and it appears that Durda and Swiger are first-time offenders. Durda's attorney, J.P. Laczko, agreed that this is Durda's first offense.
APOLOGY
Ryan Ingram, Swiger's attorney, also said this is his client's first offense and called the incident "a case of self-help repossession gone awry."
Swiger followed that up by apologizing, saying: "I know that my actions could have led to much worse" and a possibly much worse prison sentence. He also apologized to "the residents of Austintown."
Their conviction is for a second-degree felony, which is punishable by up to about eight years in prison.
Durda and Swiger waived having their case presented to a grand jury. Instead they were directly indicted and agreed to plead guilty to the charge.