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Shawn Dippery pleads guilty in Centre County

BELLEFONTE — Shawn Dippery, 47, of Lewistown, was sentenced to probation in Centre County, but remains in the custody of Mifflin County Correctional Facility to face 201 counts, court documents indicate.

Dippery pleaded guilty in Centre County to two counts before Judge Jonathan Grine on May 13. Dippery was charged in January with one felony count receiving advance payment for services and failing to provide and one misdemeanor count theft by deception, regarding what law enforcement reported was a scam involving seal-coating and driveway repair. According to the Centre County Prothonotary’s Office, Dippery was sentenced to a total of four years probation.

Prior to these offenses, Dippery was charged with multiple counts, spanning nine cases in Mifflin County, all to which he pleaded not guilty in December. According to court documents, charges accumulated against Dippery over the summer of 2018 following an alleged seal coating scam he committed against numerous Mifflin and Juniata county residents.

In July, Pennsylvania State Police Lewistown, Mifflin County Regional Police Department and Granville Township Police Department sought to apprehend Dippery for these offenses, said state police Trooper Michael Elder. Dippery was deemed a fugitive and extradited from the Washington County Correctional Facility in Colorado, then committed to Mifflin County Correctional Facility on combined bail of more than $1,000,000, set by Magisterial District Judges Kent Smith, Jonathan Reed and Jack Miller.

On Tuesday, Judge Aaron Gingrich took under advisement a Rule 600 motion, said Mifflin County District Attorney Christopher Torquato. 234 Pennsylvania Code Rule 600 states a criminal defendant is not to be held in pre-trial incarceration for more than 180 days from the date the complaint is filed. Documents indicate Dippery was incarcerated in Mifflin County Correctional Facility on Oct. 9 and in Centre County from Jan. 25 to May 13, before returning to Mifflin County custody.

Dippery was also charged with one felony count theft of leased property in October after a Mifflin County retailer reported Dippery leased nearly $6,200 in electronics and never paid for the items. Additionally, Dippery faces one felony count deceptive business practices and three misdemeanor counts theft by deception in Perry County, also charged in October.

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