Woman gets probation for looting during 2011 flood

WILKES-BARRE — Brenda Wolfe, 30, lost her composure Tuesday in the courtroom before her case came before Luzerne County Judge Fred Pierantoni III.

She was escorted out of the courtroom by a county security official, and she continued to cry when her case was ready to begin.

Her attorney, Michael Kostelaba, grabbed a chair in which Wolfe could sit as Pierantoni sentenced her to 36 months in the county’s Intermediate Punishment Program, a special probationary sentence for first-time, non-violent offenders, on charges she looted a Kingston house during the September 2011 flood.

Wolfe pleaded with Pierantoni, saying she has a newborn child to care for and had undergone rehabilitation.

“You’re taking steps to stay positive,” Pierantoni told her.

Wolfe was sentenced on a charge of criminal conspiracy to commit burglary and was ordered to wear an ankle bracelet for the first 10 months of the probation sentence.

Prosecutors withdrew charges of burglary, theft and receiving stolen property against Wolfe when she pleaded guilty to the conspiracy offense in January.

The charges were graded as felonies because the crime occurred during a state of emergency.

Kingston police said Wolfe, who lived on Eley Street, Kingston, during the flood, was entrusted by her neighbors to let their dog outside during the evacuation of the Wyoming Valley. Wolfe had a key to the residence and stole a flat-screen television, DVDs, a DVD player, a video game system, games and toys valued at $2,680, arrest records say.

Police recovered all of the merchandise from the residence of Christopher Wilson, 42, and Marie Catherine Zuccaro, 34.

Wilson was sentenced by Pierantoni to 36 months in the special probation program with the first 10 months on house arrest. Zuccaro is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26.