A Lansdale man who was charged as an adult at age 16 for pistol whipping a man walking home from the St. Stan’s fair in August 2021 has been sentenced to state prison.
Marquis Smith, 18, has been sentenced to 2 to 4 years in state prison after pleading guilty to one felony count of aggravated assault as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, according to a report by Carl Hessler Jr. at the Pottstown Mercury. Additional charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, possessing an instrument of crime, and harassment were dropped in exchange for his plea, court records show.
Smith was ordered by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Rogers to surrender to state prison officials on Aug. 2 to begin his sentence, the report states. Smith will be eligible for the state Department of Correction’s Quehanna Boot Camp during his incarceration period, according to the report.
Sentencing notes also prohibit Smith from having contact with the victim or the victim’s girlfriend, according to Hassler’s report.
Police were dispatched to the Oak Wood Garden Apartments, located along the 400 block of East Main Street, at 9:35 p.m. on Aug. 10, 2021, for a report of a fight in progress. Arriving officers encountered an adult male victim on the ground suffering from two swollen eyes and a bleeding laceration, who stated that he had been "jumped” and pistol whipped by a group of teens as he and his girlfriend were walking home from the St. Stan’s fair.
The victim was transported from the scene via ambulance to Lansdale Hospital, where he was diagnosed with an orbital fracture, traumatic injury of the head, facial laceration, facial contusion, and multiple abrasions, according to the criminal complaint.
The following day, investigators took a recorded statement from the victim, who said he and his girlfriend were walking through the parking lot of the apartment complex when a group of approximately 10 people began yelling "do we have a problem,” the report states. The victim stated that the group began to follow him and his girlfriend, and when he turned around, he saw Smith with a gun in his waistband, according to the complaint.
The victim said he put his hands in the air, at which point Smith struck him in the right side of his head with the gun, causing the victim to fall to the ground. The victim said he was then kicked and punched in the head, hand, and shoulder while on the ground, the report states.
Investigators pulled security footage from the apartment complex, which showed a group of five Black males and one white male with Smith as he followed the victim, police said. The group then attacked the victim for no apparent reason, police said.
The complaint states that the five Black males and one white male were believed to be between 16 and 17 years old. However, police told North Penn Now that they have been unable to identify the others involved, aside from Smith.
Court records show that charges were filed against Smith in adult court on Aug. 17, 2021. In response to questions from North Penn Now, police said Smith was charged as an adult for several reasons, including:
In all instances, police said they believed Smith was in possession of a BB gun, and not an actual firearm. However, no weapon was recovered from the scene of the Aug. 10, 2021, attack, police said.
Additionally, police confirmed to North Penn Now that Smith was the teen accused of pistol whipping another person in broad daylight outside of the COVID-19 testing center on Mill Street in January 2021. In that incident, Smith was taken into custody at gunpoint along the 500 block of West Main Street following a brief foot pursuit.
Lansdale Borough Police Chief Michael Trail said the firearm used in that incident turned out to be a BB gun but added that its design made it appear as a real firearm.
A second teen — then 17-year-old Terhan Wright, of Lansdale — was also charged as an adult in connection with the assault on Aug. 10, 2021. Wright, now 19, pleaded guilty last year to one felony count of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and one misdemeanor count of simple assault, court records show, and he is currently awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled for Aug. 15 at 9:15 a.m. in front of Judge Rogers.
See also:
Repeat Sex Offender from Towamencin Gets Probation for Possession of Child Pornography
Warrington Man Sentenced to Prison for Attempting to Kill Upper Gwynedd Police Officer
Owner of Dump Truck That Killed Pregnant Lansdale Woman Pleads Guilty to Homicide by Vehicle
Soccer Coach Accused of Forging Checks Intended for Club Fees Sentenced to Diversionary Program
