West Newton man to serve decade-long prison term for 3-year crime spree

A West Newton man was ordered to serve up to 10 years in prison for a series of crimes over a three-year period that included an assault, threats made against police and the theft of an American flag from a Madison funeral home.

Shayne R. Moore, 33, pleaded guilty to nine charges in four separate cases.

Moore pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault of man who was hit in the chest with a baseball bat on May 4, 2021; a July 4, 2022, theft of a flag from the Beatty-Rich Funeral Home in Madison; a June 20, 2023, run-in with police in which he was accused of illegal possession of a gun and threatening police as he attempted to resist arrest; and terroristic threats and harassment of a woman in West Newton last Aug. 18.

According to court records, police said Moore was shot in the face by his stepfather during the 2021 incident that involved a domestic dispute. Steven Layton, 59, of Indiana, in March pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of possession of a prohibited firearm and was sentenced to serve one year on probation.

Moore this week was sentenced by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani to serve concurrent sentences that total 4 to 10 years in prison.