The Pennsylvania Superior Court on Tuesday upheld an 88- to 244-month sentence imposed on an Altoona man who was convicted of a series of local burglaries in 2018.

Ryan Matthew Wolf, 42, who was convicted in 2020 by a Blair County jury for his part in three of the many bar burglaries, appealed contending his sentence was “excessive and unduly harsh.”

He charged the sentencing judge, Wade A. Kagarise, failed to consider that he was suffering from drug and alcohol issues at the time and that no one was injured by his crimes.

The defense, led by Altoona attorney Douglas Keting argued that the crimes involved property offenses and therefore the sentence was “inconsistent with protection of the public, the gravity of the offenses as it relates to impact on the life of the victims and community, and the rehabilitative needs of the defendant.”

Kagarise in his opinion took an opposing view, stating, “We do think that crimes of this nature tend to impact victims substantially and the court believes that’s an important factor for consideration in sentencing.”

The judge noted that eight burglaries in a short period of time involved break-ins of small businesses.

Those burglaries caused “a lot of anxiety” among business owners and the community, Kagarise said.

He said he considered the fact that Wolf has a family but also observed he had a lengthy criminal history.

“So that court believes that we have considered all of the facts in the case,” he stated.

He called his sentence “fair and reasonable.”

A three-judge Superior Court panel explained that Wolf was convicted of three counts of burglary, three counts of receiving stolen goods, eight counts of criminal mischief and one count of possession of an instrument of crime.

The judge sentenced Wolf within the standard guidelines of Pennsylvania’s sentencing code, but as the Superior Court wrote, the law states that a sentence shall be vacated if it involved circumstances “where the application of the guidelines would be clearly unreasonable.”

The Superior Court panel, including Judges James G. Colins, Megan Sullivan and Mary P. Murray ruled, “We do not find (Wolf’s) case involves circumstances ‘where the application of the guidelines would be clearly unreasonable.'”

In upholding the sentence the appeals court judges stated that Kagarise “carefully considered” the presentence report and Wolf’s rehabilitative needs.

While Wolf’s appeal focused on the length of his sentence, it also challenged how he landed in court in the first place.

Faced with a growing number of burglaries, city police created a surveillance detail focusing on area bars.

Detective Derrick Tardive was parked in an unmarked car in the area of the Black and Gold Tavern on 30th Street at 6 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2018 when he noticed a Kia Sorrento driving slowly, then pausing in front of the tavern for a lengthy period of time.

To the detective, there was no reason for a car to stop at the intersection, noting there was no traffic or pedestrians in the area.

He decided to make a vehicle stop, and when he looked inside the Kia, Wolf was in the back seat and on the floor was a black pry bar, an electric drill, black gloves, bolt cutters and another unidentified tool.

Two male occupants of the car, which was driven by a female, were dressed in dark clothing and Wolf had a winter mask stuffed under the baseball cap he was wearing.

Tardive did not make any arrests, but based on what he saw, police over the next month put together the criminal case that led to the arrest of the trio.

The defense contended the officer had made an illegal traffic stop – that the detective’s suspicion of criminal activity that led to the arrest was misplaced and unreasonable.

The defense contended Kagarise should have suppressed the evidence that led to Wolf’s arrest.

Kagarise ruled that that traffic stop was “legally appropriate” based on the detective’s “experience, observations and reasonable inferences.”

The Superior Court panel concluded, “We find that the trial court’s conclusion is correct. Detective Tardive had reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle in question.”

Wolf is presently serving his time in the State Correctional Institution Pine Grove in Indiana County.

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