Bounty hunter sentenced to year of house arrest in suspect's slaying
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A fugitive recovery agent was sentenced to house arrest yesterday in the killing of a suspect he was trying to apprehend.
Mark Smith, 39, was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest and three years of probation.
In a nonjury trial before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning in December, Mr. Smith was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the Dec. 23, 2004, shotgun death of Michael P. Robinson, 38, on the North Side.
Mr. Smith, who was free on bond while awaiting sentencing, had faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
"If any good can come of this tragic incident, it would be that the Legislature will finally act to address the lack of regulation over the activities of bail agents," Judge Manning said before issuing the sentence.
A bail bond enforcement agent measure is pending in the state Legislature.
Mr. Smith, a recovery agent for Liberty Bail Bonds Inc., Downtown, and his partner, Anthony McKay, had been tracking Mr. Robinson for several days when they found him hiding behind a couch in a residence that had no lights or heat.
Mr. Smith told investigators that in the darkened living room, he believed that Mr. Robinson, a convict with a history of violent behavior, wielded a weapon to prevent his arrest.
Mr. Robinson swiped at the agent's leg with a silver object and lunged before the shot was fired, Mr. Smith said.
The slug from the shotgun hit Mr. Robinson in the hip and severed an artery.
During Mr. Smith's trial in December, Judge Manning ruled that he failed to recognize the risk of shooting Mr. Robinson with ammunition that he said he believed would be non-deadly. Though Mr. Smith said he believed his shotgun was loaded with rubber projectiles, the slug that killed Mr. Robinson was made of lead.
Mr. Smith left the Allegheny County Courthouse without comment.
Attorney Michael DeRiso said that Mr. Smith was relieved that he is not going to jail.
"We expected the sentence to be fair," Mr. DeRiso said. "It would have been a miscarriage of justice if he had been sent to jail."
At least two veteran Pittsburgh police detectives, as well as Mr. Smith's young daughter, spoke on his behalf at the sentencing.
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(Jim McKinnon can be reached at
jmckinnon@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1939.)
