by peter e. bortner
Edward M. Matalavage, whose drug-fueled 10-month crime spree spread fear across central, eastern and southern Schuylkill County, will be under state supervision for two years after being sentenced Monday in Schuylkill County Court.
Matalavage, 37, of New Philadelphia, will spend two years in the state intermediate punishment program, Judge John E. Domalakes ruled.
The program combines confinement in a state correctional institution with treatment for substance abuse, Domalakes told Matalavage, who was eager to be admitted into it.
"I would never have committed the crimes" except for drugs, Matalavage said.
Domalakes also ordered Matalavage to pay a total of $43,264.09 restitution to eight of his victims, and warned him that the total amount eventually must be paid.
"There is considerable restitution. They are quite substantial in a number of cases," Domalakes told Matalavage. "We are serious about your responsibility to do that."
Matalavage pleaded guilty Dec. 11, 2013, to 13 counts of theft, 10 each of burglary and receiving stolen property, eight of conspiracy, five each of criminal trespass and criminal mischief, four of altered, forged or counterfeit documents, and one each of theft from a motor vehicle, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and attempted burglary.
Police said Matalavage and his accomplices broke into, among other places, several hunting cabins, two barns, a caddy shack, a pickup truck, a trailer and a shed. The break-ins occurred between December 2011 and September 2012, while the altered, forged or counterfeit document offenses were committed in January 2013, according to police.
Locations of Matalavage's crimes included Blythe, East Brunswick, Ryan, Schuylkill, Walker and West Penn townships, police said.
Items Matalavage stole included a kayak, a refrigerator, an all-terrain vehicle, tree stands, a shotgun, a cash register, an air compressor, a battery, coal company equipment, construction company equipment and a weedwhacker, according to police.
Domalakes conducted the sentencing hearing by videoconference, since Matalavage already is an inmate at SCI/Camp Hill in Cumberland County.