Irwin man sentenced in stabbing now charged with hiding shank in cell

An Irwin man sentenced Monday for stabbing a man inside a borough bar was one of two inmates arraigned Friday on multiple charges of hiding shanks — homemade knives — in their jail cells, according to court documents.

Joshua J. Robison, 26, of Irwin, and Jerome W. Thornton, 31, of Unity were arraigned Friday on charges of possessing instruments of crime and illegal procuring of a weapon by an inmate.

On July 12 prison guards reported that a security camera captured Robison holding a sharpened piece of silver metal inside a cell, according to court papers.

Guards subsequently searched Robison’s cell and and removed the mattresses inside that were scanned by the x-ray machine.

Guards also searched another nearby cell prior to placing two new inmates there the next day and found another shank that appeared to be the same as the one seized earlier from Robison, Williams said.

“The last occupant in that cell was Thornton,” Williams said.

Guards searched Thornton’s cell and discovered a letter written by Thornton to Robison asking him to “take the blame” for the discovery of the shanks.

On Monday, Judge Megan Bilik-DeFazio sentenced Robison to serve eight-to-20 years in prison for stabbing a man following a bar fight in 2020.

Robison pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated assault and one count each of possession of an instrument of crime and simple assault in connection with a Dec. 28, 2020, altercation with two brothers inside Brandy’s on Main in Irwin. Police said Robison stabbed one of the brothers in the neck outside the bar.

Robison’s guilty plea came as jury selection in his trial was set to begin.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed one charge of attempted homicide.

Thornton is awaiting trial on multiple counts of illegal possession of a controlled substance and illegal possession of a firearm that date back to arrests in November 2020 and January 2021 by state police in Greensburg, according to court dockets.

Neither Robison or Thornton had attorneys listed in court dockets on the new complaints.