Penn State recently broke a new record, but it had nothing to do with academics or athletics.
Last month, the university received a check for nearly $778,000 – the single largest criminal restitution payment ever processed by the Pennsylvania court system, and it’s been a long time coming.
According to a Centre County Probation and Parole Department news release, someone set fire to the School of Architecture and Landscape Design in March 2005. The building was under construction, and though the flames were put out, the building was heavily damaged.
Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers says damage to the building was initially estimated at $955,000, though the cost of repairs came in several thousand dollars lower than expected.
Less than two weeks after the blaze, university police arrested Craig Tonik – 18-years-old at the time – in connection with the arson and other more mild acts of vandalism across campus. Tonik was charged in six different criminal cases for these crimes, according the probation and parole department news release.
Tonik ultimately accepted a plea agreement, pleading guilty to two felony counts and one misdemeanor count of institutional vandalism. He was sentenced to spend between two and five years behind bars and pay Penn State $950,000 in restitution.
“When that was initially ordered, I remember thinking ‘we’ll never see a cent of this,’” says Thomas Young, director of the probation and parole department. “It was like, ‘why are we even doing this? This young man does not have the resources to pay almost a million dollars.’”
After being paroled in 2007, Tonik entered into a payment plan for his restitution, but was not able to keep up with regular payments. Then, in a tragic twist of fate, Tonik’s father was fatally injured while working at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center in 2008.
The news release says that Tonik’s father – a locksmith – was trapped by a malfunctioning motorized gate, leading to his death. Tonik, along with his father’s estate, filed a civil lawsuit with numerous parties related to the accident at the correctional facility.
Young says a settlement for nearly $3 million was reached in December 2012, but the money that came out of the lawsuit didn’t belong to Tonik just yet. The Centre County Probation and Parole Department had contacted the Philadelphia County Court, arranging for the settlement funds to be held by a third party until the issue of Penn State’s restitution could be resolved.
Young says he initially expected resistance from either Philadelphia County or Tonik’s attorneys, but was pleasantly surprised by the cooperation he received.
After negotiations presided over by Centre County President Judge Thomas Kistler, Penn State voluntarily reduced the restitution amount and Tonik agreed to pay the restitution from his portion of the settlement funds.
On November 19, the Centre County Probation and Parole Office delivered a check for $779,851 to Penn State, bringing an end to a nine-year-long tale and shattering the record for the largest criminal restitution in state history. Prior to this payment, Young says the largest restitution payment in Pennsylvania was $565,133.
“It’s a tragedy this case had to be resolved essentially due to the death of his father, but in the end, Mr. Tonik did the right thing,” Young says. “Once he was satisfied that Penn State was due its money, he didn’t contest it any further.”
Powers says the story also shows the dedication of Centre County’s criminal justice workers.
“This really is a case of Centre County officials doggedly pursuing this restitution payment and holding an individual accountable,” Powers says.
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