Assault case wraps up with sentencing

Sara Ganim

BELLEFONTE — She was awakened in the night by what sounded like gunshots.

It was actually the sound of a pipe wrench being taken to the car parked in the driveway of her Lemont home early on the morning of June 9, 2007.

And what preceded the damage to the car would turn out to be even more devastating.

The woman's son had been beaten so badly during an argument that he needed facial reconstruction surgery.

In county court Thursday, President Judge David E. Grine sentenced the last of three men charged in connection with the incident.

Police said that as the injured man was rushed to the hospital, the trio drove to his house and destroyed his family’s car.

“At this point, it’s been two years plus and the nightmare is still not over,” said the victim’s mother in court Thursday, asking for a sentence that will somehow justify the life-changing experience for her family.

Michael Adam Confer, 21, will spend 8 1/2 to 17 1/2 months in county jail after admitting to a simple assault charge. His codefendant, Devin Nyman, is serving a 60-day sentence for his role in the attack.

Nyman’s brother, Kyle, spent 12 months on probation after admitting to criminal mischief on the car.

The argument started when the victim punched a wall in a State College apartment.

Devin Nyman admitted to punching the victim once in the face.

Confer admits to following him out of the house and punching him once.

Confer turned to face his mother in court and apologized.

“I’m sorry for everything I did,” Confer said. “If it’s possible, I’ve tried to get into the Army. I want to straighten my life out. I turned to drinking after my brother died. This happened a month after my brother died.”

The victim was taken to a hospital and later transported to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where titanium plates were used to reconstruct the broken bones in his face.

His mother said in court that doctors told her there were “too many broken bones to count.”

“This has affected our lives almost daily in one way or another since June 2007,” she said. “My son’s life and his face will never be the same and this nightmare will be with him for the rest of his life. I am so thankful he was able to escape somehow and he is here today as the ending scenario could have been worse, much worse than it is already.”

Confer’s attorney, Stacy Parks Miller, said it was a “strange case” and there was no question the victim was seriously injured but her client threw only one punch.

As part of the sentence, Confer will have to pay more than $9,400 in restitution.

Sara Ganim can be reached at 231-4616.