News

November 12, 2009

Convicted rapist pleads to stealing

Now serving a 14-to-28-year sentence, Joseph Eckrote admits to taking fuel.

By Sheena Delazio sdelazio@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

WILKES-BARRE – A Nanticoke man convicted of kidnapping and rape charges who entered a guilty plea to an unrelated theft case was sentenced Tuesday to one to two years in state prison.

Joseph Eckrote, 49, who was scheduled to stand trial on charges of theft by unlawful taking, instead entered a guilty plea. Luzerne County Judge David Lupas ordered that Eckrote’s one-to-two-year sentence run concurrently to his 14-to-28-year sentence on kidnapping and rape charges.

Eckrote originally pleaded guilty to the theft charge in July, but withdrew the plea in early September and asked to be scheduled for trial.

According to court papers, police said Eckrote stole approximately 300 gallons of fuel from a bulldozer on April 6, 2008.

Police said Eckrote told them he drove his truck to where heavy construction equipment was parked on Route 11 in Plymouth Township, pried off the fuel cap of a bulldozer, poked a hole in the fuel screen and siphoned off the diesel with a garden hose.

Eckrote was ordered to pay $1,330 in restitution costs to the Hanover Nursery, which owned the bulldozer, and more than $400 to state police.

Lupas ordered Eckrote to have no contact with the nursery, and then ordered he be returned to the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill.

A summary count of criminal mischief was withdrawn by prosecutors.

In May, Eckrote was sentenced to 14 to 28 years in state prison in the kidnapping and rape of a woman who was left stranded in the woods.

A county jury found Eckrote guilty on Jan. 7 of kidnapping, rape, robbery, simple assault, two counts of terroristic threats and a summary count of harassment.

In March, Eckrote was determined to be a sexually violent predator by the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board.

Sheena Delazio, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7235.

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