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August 29, 2008

Veteran�s request during sentencing shocks comrades

By Nancy Lowry

Local veterans were shocked yesterday by a request made by one of their own.

Phillip Kelly, New Castle Area Honor Guard commander, speaking at the sentencing of a man who had vandalized veterans� graves to support a drug habit, asked the judge to order Matthew Edward Russick to work alongside the veterans to place flags and grave markers next Memorial Day.

Lawrence County J. Craig Cox included the request in Russick�s sentence and assigned him to work with the detail, supervised by his court tipstaff Tom Lane, who is active with veterans groups.

Kelly, a Vietnam veteran who spoke on behalf of local veterans, said some of the older men had been taken off guard by his proposal in the courtroom.

�But on the way out, they said this is exactly what should happen,� he noted. �We�re satisfied.�

Russick, 24, whose last known address was 1144 Pin Oak Drive, is accused of taking more than 1,000 brass flag holders from area cemeteries last winter. He was sentenced yesterday to serve six to 23 1/2 months in the Lawrence County jail, with credit for 85 days already served, and to two years probation following his incarceration.

Cox said when paroled, Russick will be supervised by the county�s adult probation office. He also is ordered to pay costs of prosecution and supervision and to make restitution of $14,000 to the Lawrence County Veterans Affairs office.

As a condition of the sentence, Cox ordered Russick to work two weekends each May for as long as he is under supervision to assist local veterans who place flags and grave markers at local cemeteries prior to Memorial Day. Russick also was granted work release to continue his job with an area landscaper.

On June 19, Russick pleaded guilty to institutional vandalism.

Codefendant Jessica Lynn Gustaitis, 23, is awaiting trial, according to the district attorney�s office.



VICTIMS ARE HEARD

Eight local veterans council members, six in the uniform of the Lawrence County Honor Guard, attended the sentencing, with Kelly as spokesman.

�What you did was bad. It was wrong,� he told Russick. �You dishonored the veterans who served their country.

�I�m not mad at you, I�m happy,� Kelly continued. �You will work with us to reverse what you�ve done and the hurt you�ve caused us.�

Also speaking was Gale Siddall, manager of Graceland Cemetery, one of four hit by Russick between Nov. 23 and Dec. 7.

�I was upset when this happened, to see the flags broken and on the ground,� she said. �Veterans don�t get too much. To see someone do something like that is a very sad day.�

Attorney David Acker acknowledged his client had made mistakes.

�He was using drugs at the time and did not see the consequences of his actions,� Acker said. �He only saw a source of money.�

Acker said Russick was arrested Dec. 7 and sat in jail for seven months. Since his release July 7, Acker said, Russick has held a job, is making payments toward the restitution he owes and is working with the Lawrence County Drug and Alcohol program, where he is tested regularly for drug use.

�He is taking the right steps,� Acker said. �He is from a good family, a family with veterans in it. He recognizes what he�s done.�

Russick apologized to the community, the county�s veterans affairs department and the families of the veterans whose grave markers he had taken.

At Cox�s direction, Russick turned to the veterans in the room and repeated his apology.

�I apologize for my actions, for the lack of respect I showed you and your families and from the bottom of my heart I�m sorry,� he said.

�Thank you,� responded Lawrence County Veterans Affairs director Shirley Noga.



APOLOGIZING FOR SON

Russick�s father, Raymond, also apologized for his son�s actions, and pleaded with the judge not to impose further jail time.

�This was a serious, terrible crime he committed,� Raymond Russick said, adding his son had not intended to deliberately hurt or show irreverence to the veterans and their families.

�He was a drug addict,� Raymond Russick. �All he saw was money to support his habit. That got him into trouble and he spent seven months in jail.�

The elder Russick said he does not believe more jail time will help.

�He is working full time and making restitution,� he said. �I ask that he be able to continue. Incarceration won�t help him.�

According to state police, Russick and Gustaitis are believed to have taken as many as 1,000 brass grave markers from St. Vitus, St. Mary, Graceland and Oak Park cemeteries. Police said the two pulled markers from the ground and broke off military emblems. Officers said the two had received $1 per rod from a local recycling center.

The two initially had been charged with institutional vandalism, conspiracy, theft, receiving stolen property, desecration or sale of venerated objects and criminal mischief.

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