31-year-old Josh Lippencott was sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault for the 2017 death of David A. Robinson. (Tusco TV)

NEW PHILADELPHIA (Tusco TV) - The 31-year-old former Gnadenhutten area man who pled guilty to murder and manslaughter charges for the 2017 death of David A. Robinson has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The sentence handed down by Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court Judge Edward O’Farrell Thursday comes 22-months after Lippencott got out of his car on Petry Hill Road and punched the 62-year-old Gnadenhutten man in the face for pushing his lawnmower out into the road in front of him. Robinson ended up coming down with bacterial meningitis and died at the hospital a week later. The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled his illness and his death came about as a direct result of his injuries.

Lippencott during the hearing asked the judge to vacate the guilty pleas he entered June 11th. He said he thought he was accepting a previous version of the agreement.

“I wasn’t aware that was the plea agreement, and if that’s the case, I want to change my plea to not guilty. You had sent me a copy of a plea agreement back in January that said that that charge, count one of murder, would be dismissed with prejudice. That’s what I thought I was pleading to.” 

The judge denied Lippencott’s request to back out of the agreement at that time but assured him he would look into the matter.

“You are making that request. I’m telling you I’m not going to let that happen. Now, if I discover when I listen to the plea hearing that what you just said is accurate, then I’m going to get you back in this courtroom. I can promise you that.” 

Robinson’s daughter Bobbie Trolio spoke out during the hearing saying she and her family were tired of Lippencott’s antics including trying to negotiate a furlough to spend time with his mother and firing his second attorney the day ahead of his trial.

“He’s played a game., a straight game. It’s been 22 months since my dad passed away that we’ve been playing this game of firing an attorney, hiring an attorney, firing an attorney, now I’m going to represent myself, now I don’t want to have a jury trial, everything else like that. It’s been a game, and he has wasted my family’s time. We have been looking for closure, and we deserve closure.” 

Lippencott’s indictment also included one count of felonious assault and a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. The judge sentenced him to two years on the assault charge to run concurrently with the 11-year sentence along with five years of post-release sanctions. The plea agreement he signed prohibits him from filing an appeal. 

TUSCO TV