Over a year after an Old Stage Road family awoke to a crossbow bolt embedded in their living room wall, a bloodied axe on the floor of their home, a broken window and a torn screen on their porch, Johnnie Lancaster of the Town of Ulster, 25, was sentenced to 20 years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision after being found guilty of first-degree burglary and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
In the initial incident on Feb. 23, 2018, no one was injured and nothing was taken from the home in question. Five days afterward, a crossbow, bolts and a backpack were found in a wooded area near the home; investigators found a cell phone with a SIM card linked to Lancaster. Using the SIM card and DNA from blood found at the scene and on the crossbow, officers were able to link Lancaster to the crime and arrest him on March 1, 2018.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Gerard Van Loan. Lancaster represented himself at trial.
20 years??? Based on that metric anyone who was a dumb teenager would be facing life if they were stupid enough to be caught. What’s the rest of the story?
Do not feel sorry for this violent dangerous criminal, feel sorry for the victims terrorized.
Very appropriate and fair sentence. This was a very serious crime. Lock him up, throw away the key.
Should have been life no parole.
There has got to be more to this story. 20 years for burglary. No way. Please do some more reporting and finish the story.
For those of you who think there is “more to the story”, there isn’t. The defendant had an attorney who was incompetent.
Actually he represented himself, he had no attorney
Not while I was there?
Everyone is always quick to defend the perpetrators in these cases. How about the victims. Why don’t we ask if they think it was a fair sentence or not? Their the ones that were terrorized. If found guilty, every perpetrator should have the victims decide the sentence. They are the ones who are victimized. Not someone unrelated that feels sorry. Ridiculous
The convicted will appeal, get a new trial, and this time demand and get the county’s top Public Defender, shmuck or no shmuck.