Man sentenced for conspiracy to commit robbery
WAYNESBURG – A Dilliner man who pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the armed robbery of the BFS Truck Stop in Mt. Morris in March 2014 was sentenced Thursday to 1 to 2 years in prison.
Travis Charles Lee Shuppe, 22, of 151 Cemetery Hill Road ,was sentenced by Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman after pleading guilty earlier to conspiracy charges to commit robbery, theft and simple assault.
Shuppe was initially charged with Shyan M. Strosnider, 22, of Bobtown. However, charges against Strosnider were dismissed after a witness in the case declined to testify during his preliminary hearing.
Police said a man wearing a mask entered the truck stop shortly after midnight, held a knife to a truck stop clerk’s side and demanded money. The man fled with $345.
Shuppe admitted his involvement in the robbery and claimed Strosnider was the one who went into the truck stop while he waited in the car. Shuppe told police he used the money to purchase drugs.
Shuppe was recommended to serve the sentence in a boot camp program. He was fined $300.
In another matter, Larry Lee Black, 52, of 379 Woodies Road, Waynesburg, was sentenced to five years in the county intermediate punishment program on charges of conspiracy to commit theft and possession of instruments of crime.
On Feb. 20, 2014, Black and his son, Joseph Mathew Black, 26, attempted to steal copper wire from a Strad Energy site on Baker Road in Franklin Township.
A worker at a nearby work site saw the men climb over the fence and attempted to stop them, pulling his vehicle in front of theirs. Joseph Black drove his vehicle into the man’s vehicle then into the fence of the Strad site to get away.
Larry Black was convicted of the charges by a jury in September. He was acquitted of a charge of theft.
As part of his sentence, Larry Black was ordered to spend the first four months in jail and was given credit for 30 days served. This will be followed by eight months of house arrest. Black was fined $425 and was required to pay $3,406 in restitution to Strad Energy.
His son, Joseph Black, pleaded guilty to the charges against him in August 2014 and was sentenced to 6 to 23 ½ months in jail, according to online court records.