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Monday, January 31, 2000 Page: 2A
A Luzerne woman and a former Pittston resident will stand trial in Luzerne
County for their alleged role in a $6.5 million drug ring. David Kenning, 42,
of Quincy, Illinois, and Joanne Rismondo, 37, of North Walnut Street, Luzerne,
recently waived their right to a preliminary hearing, according to the office
of District Justice Diana Malast. Each is charged with a single count of
conspiracy to deliver cocaine. The charges were forwarded to Luzerne County
Court of Common Pleas. On Jan. 19, state and local law enforcement officers
arrested the pair and five others said to be associates of Wilkes-Barre
residents Jason Tricarico and his wife, Alyssa Loftus, who are jailed on drug
charges after being arrested on Dec. 14, 1998. Tricarico pleaded guilty to
numerous charges related to the operation of a $6.5 million drug ring in
Luzerne and Lackawanna counties from 1995 until October 1998, according to the
state Office of Attorney General. He is awaiting sentencing. Tonya Harding,
28, formerly of Pittston, Eric Krackenfels, 27, of Wilkes-Barre, Robert Vasil,
43, of Larksville, David Polochek, of Dallas, and former Scranton resident
Lyle Seamon, 45, an inmate at the Luzerne Count Correctional Facility, were
arrested and are scheduled for preliminary hearings before Malast next month.
WILKES-BARRE
Inmate pleads guilty to false sex charge
A state prison inmate charged with filing a false sexual assault lawsuit
against a guard pleaded guilty Thursday to all charges. Theodore Savage, 31,
admitted he made up the allegations against John Ontko, a corrections officer
at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas, in retaliation for a
misconduct report Ontko filed, said Assistant District Attorney Timothy
Doherty. Savage pleaded guilty before Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas
Judge Hugh Mundy to three counts of unsworn falsification, two counts each of
forgery and false reports and one count of retaliation for past official
action. Mundy immediately sentenced Savage to one to two years in prison,
with the sentence to run simultaneously with a current sentence Savage is
serving for a 1993 Plymouth robbery. The sentence means Savage will serve no
additional time, but the guilty plea virtually ensures Savage will not be
paroled for the robbery conviction until his maximum sentence expires in 2015,
Doherty said. Doherty said the plea also gives prosecutors ammunition to file
additional charges against Savage if he files another unfounded lawsuit
against prison officials.