EBENSBURG, Pa. -- The former owner of a personal care home was sentenced to 10 to 20 months in jail for leaving 17 elderly people without caretakers when he fired the staff.
William N. Black, 49, of Johnstown, had owned and operated Coach Manor in Cresson Township for 12 years until last spring.
Police said he fired his three employees in April, and residents were without caretakers for about six hours.
Mr. Black's attorney, Robert Davis Gleason, said his client's actions were precipitated by his mental illness. Black pleaded guilty but mentally ill in Cambria County Court to 17 counts each of neglect of care of dependent persons and reckless endangerment. He was sentenced Thursday and immediately paroled because of time already spent in jail and a mental hospital.
Black was also sentenced to probation for five years, ordered to continue mental-health treatment and prohibited from having contact with the victims or their families.
District Attorney Patrick Kiniry said the victims or their families approved of the plea agreement and sentencing.
First Published: April 10, 2007, 1:45 p.m.