March 20, 2019 | Xiaohua Li
Harrisburg, Pa
A house tour is a noncommittal part of the home-buying process, but be cautioned not caught up in a series of crime. In a criminal case being scheduled for a sentencing hearing at 9:00 a.m. on March 14, 2019 in the Dauphin County Court, a so-called “homebuyer” was sentenced to up to six years in the county jail for kidnapping and demanding ransom during the house tour.
The crime, which was reported two years ago, showed Raymond Thomas, a 43-year-old African American male, assaulting the victim who was 28-year-old using a stun gun. Thomas also allegedly choked and punched him in the basement of the home during the tour.
The Common Pleas Court Administrative Judge of Dauphin County Richard A. Lewis took less than 30 minutes to seal Thomas's fate at the hearing this Thursday morning.
During the hearing, both sides disputed the nature of the case. Thomas pleaded low risk of himself to the court, not moderate risk. The plaintiff believed that to be a pretext and claimed: “it doesn’t undermine what he did.”
Kristen Leigh Wiesenberger, Thomas’s defense attorney, said Thomas had “strong family ties and many connections in the community,” and he used to be a volunteer coach and was once employed for seven years.
She said she would suggest Thomas’s risk is low and asked the court to reconsider him.
“Mr. Thomas has the ability to follow rules if he is supervised,” Wiesenberger said.
“Thomas helped my family well,” Daniel Doug, the witness, said. He was Thomas’s neighbor, and Thomas used to be a basketball coach of his son. He told the judge that Thomas took care of many people while having a low salary. Doug finished his testimony and left at 10: 38 a.m. He patted Thomas on the shoulder in a brotherly gesture. Thomas stood straight, looked at him and quickly nodded in reply.
“I think it’s important to look back at what exactly has happened in this case,“ the prosecutor argued at the court, standing at the bar below the judge who sat on the bench. “It’s the most brutal one I’ve ever seen,” she said.
On Jan 1, 2017, at 6: 20 a.m., the Harrisburg Bureau of Police were summoned to a hospital in Harrisburg for an assault. Officers met with the victim, who related that he arranged to meet someone regarding a home on North 18th St, according to Crime Watch Technologies.
Based on the Crime Watch, the victim met with Raymond Thomas and another male at 4: 00 p.m. at the residence. As the victim was walking down into the basement, he was attached and struck multiple times. Thomas and the male threatened to strike him with a handgun. The victim was zip-tied and duct taped to restrain him. Thomas and the male then demanded money from the victim. The victim ultimately was able to free himself and escape.
On Jan 19, 2017, police were able to identify Thomas as one of the actors in this kidnapping. Thomas has been incarcerated on $100,000 bail, according to Crime Watch Technologies.
Thomas had pleaded guilty to kidnapping for ransom, robbery, unlawful restraint with serious bodily injury and aggravated assault.
“Pretty frightening for the gentlemen, it could have been worse,” Judge Lewis responded.
He has sustained the prosecutor's objection, and overturned the defense attorney Wiesenberger’s pleading, said whether Thomas was a good man or not, “character and background doesn’t align with his violence.”
The police came in at 10: 54 a.m., handcuffed Thomas and took him away. Thomas kept talking to his family while keeping up the fast pace of the police, marching.
“I’ll be alright. I’ll be alright,” he said.
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