Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 22-year-old Adna resident whose high profile escape from an attempted misdemeanor arrest at Centralia Municipal Court in December was followed by a drug arrest pleaded guilty today to two felonies.

Phillip A. Pinotti was out on bail from his escape incident when Centralia police arrested him two and a half weeks ago for twice having heroin and once selling it.

One case was from last August that was brought to the attention of prosecutors after the escape. The other involved newer incidents.

Lewis County prosecutors in a plea deal they said got both sides something they wanted, reduced the charge from August and dropped one of two counts in the more recent case.

“It seems like the quantity alone is not enough for possession with intent (to deliver),” Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told the judge this morning.

Meagher was referring to mid-August when police had him and Zachary J. Maurer under surveillance as they went to Longview to allegedly purchase heroin and subsequently impounded their vehicle finding drugs.

Pinotti’s responses were simply “Guilty, your honor,” when queried by the judge on each count.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt said he found Pinotti guilty as charged, of possession of heroin in August and of delivery of heroin on Dec. 20.

Pinotti, whose lives with his parents in Adna, drew gunfire from a court security officer on Dec. 16 when he ran away as he was being taken into custody and jumped in his car.

He was there for arraignment on a charge of driving under the influence, and the judge saw he was wanted on a misdemeanor warrant for failing to appear in Chehalis Municipal Court, in connection with a third-degree theft.

Two weeks ago, Pinotti pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors for the incidents of that day; obstructing, third-degree escape and tampering with evidence. He was given a sentence of 364 days, with all but six days suspended, getting credit for time already served.

Court Security Officer Steve Howard said he fired one shot because Pinotti tried to hit him with his car, but the Lewis County prosecutor concluded Pinotti wasn’t trying to run him run down.

Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer cleared Howard of criminal wrongdoing in the shooting, but Centralia Police Department Chief Bob Berg’s decision if Howard’s actions were in line with department policies is still pending.

Defense attorney Don Blair told the judge today he wanted to set the sentencing hearing for later, because his client has a misdemeanor sentencing coming up, and if he gets sent to prison, he would miss that.

Pinotti’s sentencing for the drug cases is scheduled for Feb. 11. He faces a standard sentencing range of between 12 and 20 months, according to Meagher.

Before the events of Dec. 16, Pinotti had one misdemeanor on his record, from 2009.
•••

For background, read:

• “Summertime heroin case proceeds for two defendants” from Tuesday January 20, 2015, here

• “Sentence: Six days in jail for escape that led to gunfire in Centralia” from Wednesday January 14, 2015, here

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2015 at 10:38 pm and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.