Man convicted of armed robberies in Centre County had 10 years taken off his prison sentence. Here’s why
A man convicted nearly a decade ago of several armed robberies in the Centre Region and Penns Valley had 10 years shaved off his minimum state prison sentence Thursday.
Anatoliy Veretnov, 37, was found guilty in June 2012 of robbing the Dollar General in Potter Township, The Bar in Boalsburg and a man in Ferguson Township. Handguns and assault rifles were used in each of the three crimes.
The resentencing came after a series of appeals and because laws mandating sentence minimums in place at the time of his July 2012 sentencing had since changed.
The robberies were part of a “gratuitously violent crime spree, the likes of which we rarely encounter in Happy Valley,” Centre County Assistant District Attorney Amanda Chaplin wrote in a 12-page memo to county Judge Brian Marshall.
Those who were robbed declined to offer a statement for a second time because each are still “terrified” of Veretnov, Chaplin wrote.
“The severity of the negative impact of the defendant’s violent actions against these individuals is evident, as they are still experiencing these traumatic feelings 11 years after the crimes were committed,” Chaplin wrote. “... The passage of time has not healed the emotional damage caused by the defendant’s callous, violent actions.”
Veretnov was convicted alongside Alexei Semionov, Maksim Illarionov and Dmitriy Litvinov. The quartet banded together when they robbed the Dollar General.
They shattered the business’ windows, brandished firearms while wearing masks and threatened to shoot the employees if they called the police. One worker was forced to hand over money from the store safe at gunpoint.
In The Bar robbery, Veretnov and Litvinov pointed firearms at a bartender and customer as they demanded money from the business’ register and safe. They similarly forced a man at gunpoint to withdraw money from an ATM in Ferguson Township.
”They still fear retaliation from the defendant and his cohorts,” Chaplin wrote. “The violence imposed upon the victims shocks the conscience.”
Veretnov’s new sentence called for 20 1/2 to 41 years in state prison. He received credit for about 11 1/2 years already served. He’s detained at Forest state prison in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Veretnov did not apologize or address the allegations in a statement to Marshall before the sentence was announced. He advocated for a lesser sentence, in part, because he may be deported immediately when released.
Defense lawyer Julian Allatt declined comment after the hearing.