A defiant George Klipola is headed to state prison after admitting Wednesday in Schuylkill County Court that he endangered teenagers by hitting them with his pickup truck in June 2011 at a bush party in Blythe Township.
Klipola, 39, of Middleport, must spend one to two years in a state correctional institution, Judge John E. Domalakes ruled after accepting his guilty plea to two counts of recklessly endangering another person.
"It's alleged that you struck the victims and left the scene," Domalakes told Klipola in accepting the plea, which also included prosecutors dropping two counts of aggravated assault and one each of simple assault and driving under suspension.
Under the terms of Domalakes' sentence, which will be effective at 9 a.m. Nov. 1 and which the judge imposed pursuant to a plea agreement between prosecutors and the defendant, Klipola also must pay costs and $3,446.48 restitution to Cody Carpency, one of his victims.
However, after Domalakes imposed his sentence, Klipola tried to pin the blame for what occurred on other people who were at the party near Kaska in the township's Strawberry Fields section.
"I'm sorry it happened, but my wife and I were assaulted," Klipola said outside the courtroom. "I think folks should know that during this whole thing, not one kid ... was charged."
Those statements have no legal significance, however, because Klipola is bound by the terms of, and admissions he made during, his plea.
What Klipola called "this whole thing" was a bush party in the early morning hours of June 18, 2011.
State police at Frackville alleged that Klipola struck Carpency, then 18, of New Philadelphia, Gavin Heim, then 17, of Valley View, and Joseph Rolanaitis, then 18, of Middleport, with his white Ford pickup truck at the party.
Carpency testified at Klipola's preliminary hearing on July 28, 2011, before Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko, Port Carbon, that he suffered three pelvic fractures and a ruptured bladder that required surgery at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
Heim testified at the same hearing he suffered three or four broken ribs, three or four torn tendons in one of his knees, a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.
Rolanaitis also testified he had a titanium plate put in his body as a result of the incident but otherwise was not seriously hurt.
Klipola had been scheduled to plead guilty to the same two counts of recklessly endangering another person on July 25. At that time, however, Domalakes refused to accept the plea because the exact amount of restitution was at issue.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas J. Campion Jr. declined to comment on the case after the sentencing hearing.Defendant: George Klipola
Age: 39
Residence: Middleport
Crimes committed: Two counts of recklessly endangering another person
Prison sentence: One to two years in a state correctional institution