Kidnapper gets 20-year sentence

One of two people charged with kidnapping, beating and shooting at a Union Township man in 2016 will spend up to 20 years in state prison.

Judge Jacqueline L. Russell on Wednesday sentenced Jonathan T. Ford, 31, of Barnesville to the time after he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, kidnapping, robbery and arson/reckless burning.

Charges of attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy, criminal mischief, terroristic threats, tampering with evidence and propulsion of missiles onto roadways, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person were dropped in plea negotiations.

Russell also ordered Ford to pay $9,207 in restitution to Jean Rhoads, whose car he took for the kidnapping.

His sentence comes a month after his co-conspirator, Jordan M. Stravinsky, 23, pleaded guilty to charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and reckless burning or exploding places or property having value that exceeds $5,000 or an automobile.

She was sentenced by Judge James P. Goodman to up to 10 years in state prison.

Charges of conspiracy to commit murder of the first degree, conspiracy to commit kidnapping to inflict injury/terror, and conspiracy to commit criminal mischief with intent to damage property were dropped as part of the plea negotiations.

Other charges of conspiracy to commit terroristic threats, two counts of conspiracy to commit simple assault, conspiracy to commit recklessly endangering another person, conspiracy to commit robbery with threat of immediate serious injury, and conspiracy to commit reckless or negligent propulsion of missiles onto roadways also were dismissed.

State police at Frackville say Ford and Stravinsky kidnapped Shaun D. Briggs, 34, from his Union Township home on Sept. 29, 2016.

Briggs was forced into a car at gunpoint, then beaten by Ford as he drove the car away. Stravinsky was in the back seat.

Stravinsky and Ford forced Briggs to strip, then ordered him into a pond.

Ford fired a gun at Briggs as he cowered in the water, according to court documents.

Ford and Stravinsky then drove to a friend’s house, where they burned Briggs’ bloody clothes before going to a strip club, according to testimony.

Briggs testified at a Dec. 1, 2016, preliminary hearing that he needed 18 stitches for numerous cuts on his face and head, had a fractured skull, a tooth knocked out, a fractured nose, a broken finger and a broken bone in his wrist.

Rhoads testified earlier that she knew Ford because he had worked with her son. She said Stravinsky, whom she just met, texted her on Sept. 27 to ask if they could borrow her car for a couple of days so she could visit her daughter.

Rhoads agreed, but they didn’t bring the car back, and she received a phone call at about 3 a.m. Sept. 30. A “rough” male voice told her to report it stolen, but to wait three hours to do that.

The voice, which Rhoads testified she believed was Ford, told her to “just do it.”

Rhoads said she was frightened he would hurt her two young grandchildren, who live with her, so she waited until the next day to call police.