OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) — An Oil City facing felony witness intimidation charges recently waived his preliminary hearing.
According to court documents, the following charges against 27-year-old Eric M. Lawson, of Oil City were waived for court on Wednesday, July 25, before Magisterial District Judge Andrew F. Fish:
- Intimidate Witness/Victim — Withhold Testimony, Felony 2
- Criminal Conspiracy Engaging — Intimidate Witness/Victim — Withhold Testimony, Felony 2
Charges have been transferred to the Venango County Court of Common Pleas.
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.
Details of the case:
According to a criminal complaint, the incident stems from an alleged physical domestic altercation that occurred 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.