HOLLIDAYSBURG - A central Pennsylvania man charged in two shootings more than 150 miles apart in the commonwealth four years ago has been sentenced to seven to 14 years in one of the cases.
Joseph Olecki, 37, of Logan Twp. pleaded guilty Friday in Blair County to aggravated assault as well as weapons counts and risking a catastrophe.
Authorities said he riddled his ex-girlfriend's home with 21 bullets March 14, 2009. The victim, who now serves as his power of attorney, told the court that she still loved him and that she had seen a positive change in his behavior after his medication had been stabilized.
According to Sunday Times archives, the day after that shooting, Lackawanna County authorities said Mr. Olecki shot Lindsay and Michael Ross while the couple and their two young sons were standing on the deck of their South Scranton home on Beech Street.
Mr. Olecki said in Blair County Court on Friday he was suffering from mental illness at the time of the shootings and urged people in similar circumstances to seek help.
He thanked the judges and prosecutors involved in his case for sending him to the state hospital in Norristown, where he received mental health treatment. He said he had been seeing a psychiatrist before the shooting but hadn't been getting the right medication.
"The medication definitely works if you get the medication you need," he said.
President Judge Jolene Kopriva told the defendant that he was fortunate that no one in Blair County had been hurt. "There would be different consequences" if that had happened, she said.
Defense attorney Joel Peppetti said he was aware Mr. Olecki could face more prison time in the Scranton case.
For that shooting, Mr. Olecki faces two charges of attempted murder, multiple counts of aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, and a single count of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, according to Sunday Times archives. Mr. Olecki used to live next door to the Rosses.
Mr. Olecki was arrested a day later in 2009 driving a stolen silver Lexus SUV near Altoona.