Published: April 09, 2008 09:02 am         

Man who pointed loaded gun at police sentenced to 10 years in prison

CUMBERLAND — Twenty-year-old Willis Truman Clark was sentenced Tuesday to serve 10 years in prison for aiming a loaded handgun at two Maryland State Police troopers during a November 2006 traffic stop in Barton.

Allegany County Circuit Court Judge Gary Leasure sentenced Clark to seven years with two years suspended for the first-degree assault conviction concerning Tfc. Chris Roy and seven years with two years suspended for the first-degree assault of Tfc. J.L. Layton. The sentences are to be served consecutively.

After completing his prison term, Clark will be placed on two years’ supervised probation with conditions to have no contact with the victims and to abstain from alcohol and drugs.

The court merged convictions of reckless endangerment and second-degree assault with the first-degree assault convictions before the judge issued the sentence.

Clark, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the incident when the troopers opened fire, made no comment during the hearing other than acknowledging to the judge that he understood the proceeding.

Handcuffed and dressed in blaze orange prisoner attire, Clark was returned to the Allegany County Detention Center where he has been jailed since being convicted by a circuit court jury in January. He was escorted to and from the courthouse by correctional officers.

Leasure noted that the Bedford, Pa., resident had no prior criminal convictions in Maryland and that he “obviously had a troubling, youthful background.”

Defense attorney Michael Noonan told the court about Clark’s medical history and how he had been troubled emotionally throughout his lifetime, beginning at the age of 3.

Noonan and defense attorney Sean Gallagher declined to comment following the hearing, which was attended by Clark’s mother and other supporters as well as several law enforcement officers, including Roy and Layton.

Allegany County State’s Attorney Michael O. Twigg said, “I hope this sends an appropriate message to people who would engage in this type of activity.

“I’m pleased with the outcome of the trial and would like to commend the work of the Maryland State Police and investigators who handled this very serious matter.”

Maryland State Police Capt. James R. Pyles, commander of the Western Troop, Field Operations Bureau, said, “Today brings closure to a traumatic incident that occurred on November 7, 2006.

“Tfc. Layton and Tfc. Roy and their families can now endeavor to move forward. I am extremely proud of how these two troopers handled themselves during and after this harrowing event.

“It is rewarding to watch the work of the men and women of the Maryland State Police on a daily basis. It is troopers like Layton and Roy that make the Department of the Maryland State Police among the nation’s finest.”

Under sentencing recommendation of the Department of Parole and Probation, Clark could have received up to 10 years on the first-degree assault conviction. The presentencing report also recommended that Clark be allowed to serve the prison term in the Patuxent Institution, a special treatment prison in Jessup.

The judge recommended Clark to be placed in the Patuxent Institution if that determination is made by the facility in accord with Division of Correction guidelines and regulations.

Under Maryland law, conviction of first-degree assault carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.

According to the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, the Patuxent Institution houses men and women as an independent unit from the DOC. The institution specializes in treatment services focusing on offender remediation for more than 800 offenders. The facility’s multidisciplinary treatment approach involves the professions of psychology, security, psychiatry, social work and education.

Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.