CASE UPDATE:  August 3, 2015- Commonwealth v Shawn Stewart:  On August 3, 2015, the Honorable Dauphin County Judge John F. Cherry sentenced Shawn A. Stewart, 38, of Harrisburg, to an aggregate sentence in a State Correctional Institution of not less than 28 to 56 years.  On June 10, a Dauphin County jury returned a guilty verdict against Stewart following the three day trial on charges of Robbery, Burglary, Conspiracy to Robbery, Conspiracy to Burglary, Conspiracy to Unlawful Restraint, Conspiracy to False Imprisonment, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Simple Assault, Theft and Criminal Use of a Communication Facility. 

The charges stemmed from a violent home invasion armed robbery that occurred January 6, 2014, on the 2200 block of Georgetown Rd., Lower Swatara Township, Dauphin County.  During the mid-morning hours on January 6, Stewart, along with two accomplices, knocked on the townhouse door where the 71 year-old victim lived with his daughter and grandsons.  Upon opening the door, one of the three assailants produced a handgun while all three forced their way into the home.  At that point the elderly victim was ordered to the floor at gunpoint and his hands where zip-tied behind his back and his head covered.  Within minutes the three exited the townhouse, taking only a single suitcase from the upstairs bedroom.  Following a comprehensive investigation, officers learned that Stewart had specifically targeted this address while he was in an intimate relationship with the victim’s 39 year-old daughter, believing in error that there was a large sum of cash hidden in the house.   

During the three day trial, jurors heard evidence from the 71 year-old victim, his daughter, and investigating detectives. Further, jurors were presented with expert testimony from a Special Agent with the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force in the area of historical cellular phone records analysis, as well as testimony from an intelligence analyst from the Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Intelligence Center (PaCiC). 

During the sentencing, Judge John F. Cherry cited Stewart’s nearly lifelong proclivity to crime, as well as Stewart’s repeated refusal to accept any responsibility, despite the overwhelming evidence of guilt heard before the court.  Shawn Stewart will be first eligible for parole just shy of his 66th birthday, and will not be released from State supervision until the age of 93.

The Dauphin County District Attorney’s office applauds the sentence, and the exceptional efforts of Detectives Robert Appleby and Ryan Gartland of the Lower Swatara Police Department, as well as all the patrol officers who assisted in the investigation.  The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Joel Hogentogler.