Venango County Man Faces Felony Witness Intimidation Charges

Aly Delp

Aly Delp

Published July 22, 2018 4:21 am
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VENANGO CO., Pa. (EYT) — An Oil City man is facing felony witness intimidation charges after he allegedly attempted to persuade a victim not to show up in court.

Court documents indicate the Oil City Police Department filed criminal charges against 27-year-old Eric M. Lawson, of Oil City.

According to a criminal complaint, the incident stems from an alleged physical domestic altercation between Eric Lawson and a known victim.

On Friday, July 6, Patrolman Byham had contact with the known victim who provided him with copies of messages she received via Facebook Messenger in which the victim was instructed not to appear for court on July 11.

According to the complaint, on July 12, Patrolman Byham reviewed recorded jail phone calls from the Venango County Jail between Lawson and a known female. During the calls, Lawson and the woman were conspiring to contact the victim of the domestic dispute in an attempt to have her not appear in court on July 11. Lawson provided the known female with information and instructed her to provide certain information to the victim: to tell her “It’s fine, if she doesn’t go to court on the 11th then the charges will be dropped, if she wants the charges to go away, don’t show up on the 11th.”

The complaint states that upon receiving the information and through agreement, the known female then contacted the victim via Facebook Messenger through Lawson’s account.

Based on the investigation, Lawson was arraigned at 9:50 a.m. on Friday, July 20, in Magisterial District Judge Andrew F. Fish’s office on the following charges:

  • Intimidate Witness/Victim — Withhold Testimony, Felony 2
  • Criminal Conspiracy Engaging — Intimidate Witness/Victim — Withhold Testimony, Felony 2

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 25, with Judge Fish presiding.

Lawson remains lodged in the Venango County Jail.

He was recently sentenced to six to twelve months confinement after pleading guilty to third-degree misdemeanor criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

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