Admitted Crawford County killer sentenced for federal crimes

Jun. 11—Jack E. Turner of Cochranton has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison on federal charges for robbing an Erie-area gas station nearly three years ago.

Turner was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter in Erie to a total of 10 years and 10 months followed by probation when released. The Tribune was the only media outlet to attend the hearing, held via video conference.

Turner, 24, pleaded guilty in federal court in February to committing a Hobbs Act robbery and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence for robbing an Erie-area Kwik Fill gas station of $992 at gunpoint on Aug. 11, 2019. A federal grand jury indicted Turner for the crime in November.

A person commits a federal Hobbs Act robbery when he or she obstructs, delays or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, by robbery or extortion or attempts or conspires so to do, or commits or threatens physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose.

In sentencing Turner, Baxter noted the gravity of the two charges as well as Turner's prior criminal record put him in the range of three years and 10 months to four years and nine months on the robbery count and seven years on the firearms violation.

Baxter also noted the pre-sentence report on Turner by the U.S. Probation Office found Turner had been a victim of neglect and physical abuse as a child and, as a result, had a history of drug and alcohol abuse since age 11.

Baxter ordered Turner to serve three years and 10 months on the robbery count followed by seven years on the firearms charge. Turner also must serve a total of three years of supervised release following his release from prison. In addition to the jail time, Baxter ordered Turner to pay $992 restitution United Refining Co.

Turner appeared at Friday's federal court sentencing via video link from SCI Dallas, the state prison in eastern Pennsylvania where he is serving out a decades-long sentence for a Crawford County double homicide.

Turner gave short "Yes" or "No" answers when Baxter questioned Turner if he understood his rights and other questions. Turner declined to address the court when asked by Baxter.

In handing down the sentence, Baxter ordered Turner's federal prison sentence run at the same time as the state prison sentence Turner is serving for killing both his stepmother and his 10-year-old half brother in 2019.

When Turner committed the Kwik Fill robbery, he was on the run from Pennsylvania State Police for that double slaying which had taken place just a day earlier.

State police wanted Turner for fatally shooting, Shannon Whitman, 49, his stepmother, and Darrin Whitman, 10, his half brother, on Aug. 10, 2019, at the Whitman home near Guys Mills. Turner was arrested Aug. 14, 2019, at a Greyhound bus station in Charleston, West Virginia.

Turner pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for the double killing in Crawford County Court in September 2021 and was sentenced to 45 to 90 years in state prison.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at .