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Currently serving 14-28 years, area man withdraws guilty plea in alleged theft of fuel.
WILKES-BARRE – A Nanticoke man, currently serving 14 to 28 years in state prison on kidnapping and rape charges, withdrew a guilty plea to an unrelated theft case and will now stand trial.
Citing he wanted to retain new counsel, Joseph Eckrote, 49, asked Luzerne County Judge Chester Muroski on Tuesday to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea in a case in which police said he stole approximately 300 gallons of diesel fuel from a bulldozer.
Eckrote will now be put on the next trial list in October while he waits to hire a private attorney. Muroski said Eckrote, if convicted, could face a substantial sentence because of his lengthy criminal record.
Eckrote is currently represented by attorney John Sobota.
According to court records, police claim Eckrote stole approximately 300 gallons of fuel from a bulldozer on April 6, 2008.
Police said Eckrote told them he drove his truck to the piece of heavy equipment, which was parked along Route 11 in Plymouth Township, pried off the fuel cap, poked a hole in the fuel screen and siphoned off the diesel with a garden hose.
Eckrote, who entered his guilty plea in July, was then ordered to pay $1,330 in restitution costs to Hanover Nursery for the damage and fuel.
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.