J. S64044/15

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

: PENNSYLVANIA

v. :

:

ANTUANNE LONNEL ALLEN, :

:

Appellant : No. 628 MDA 2015

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence December 16, 2014

In the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County 

Criminal Division No(s).: CP-22-CR-0000174-2011

BEFORE: FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E., WECHT, and FITZGERALD,*JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY FITZGERALD, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 23, 2015

Appellant, Antuanne Lonnel Allen, appeals from the judgment of 

sentence entered in the Dauphin Court of Common Pleas following the 

revocation of his probation. Appellant argues the sentence of one to two 

years’ imprisonment in a state correctional institution, with a consecutive 

year of probation, is excessive. We affirm.

On December 11, 2011, Appellant pleaded guilty to aggravated 

indecent assault/complainant unconscious, incest, corruption of a minor, and 

unlawful contact with a minor.1 These charges arose from “sexual contact 

 

*

Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3125(a)(4), 4302, 6301(a)(2), 6318(a)(1). The trial court’s 

opinion stated Appellant also pleaded guilty to aggravated 

assault/complainant unconscious, but a review of the certified record does 

not indicate there was such a plea. See Trial Ct. Op., 10/2/15, at 1.
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with his [fifteen-year old] half sister.”2 Trial Ct. Op. at 1. On February 6, 

2012, the trial court imposed the following sentences: (1) for aggravated 

indecent assault, a felony of the second degree, one to two years’ 

imprisonment in a state correctional institution and a consecutive one year’s 

probation; (2) for incest, the same term, to run concurrently; (3) for 

corruption of a minor, a concurrent one to two years’ imprisonment in a 

state correctional institution; and (4) for unlawful contact with a minor, 

twelve months’ probation, to run consecutive to the corruption of a minor 

sentence.

On December 16, 2014, Appellant appeared for a probation revocation 

hearing.3 The probation department4averred Appellant had tested positive 

for and admitted to marijuana use and “was unsuccessfully discharged” from 

a court-ordered outpatient sex offender treatment “due to admissions” 

during “a maintenance polygraph” concerning “a new victim,”5and that 

 

2 At the time of the incident, Appellant was eighteen years old.

3 The original sentence of February 6, 2012 was imposed by the Hon. 

Jeannine Turgeon. The instant probation revocation proceedings were 

conducted by the Hon. Todd A. Hoover, President Judge.

4 The transcript identifies the witness from the probation department only as 

“Ms. Persing,” and does not specify whether she was Appellant’s probation 

officer. See N.T. Revocation H’rg, 12/16/14, at 2.

5 The probation department subsequently stated, however, that Appellant 

was discharged from the treatment program due to “a new disclosure prior

to the polygraph.” N.T. at 9 (emphasis added).
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these “new admissions” were “currently being pursued under new criminal 

charges.”6 Id. at 5, 7.

With respect to the polygraph, Appellant’s counsel responded that 

Appellant “was concerned that they were inquiring into events that weren’t 

related to the charges for which he was on probation” and “they’re not 

allowed to get into [certain areas] with these polygraphs.” Id. at 6, 7. 

Appellant denied there was “a new victim,” averring that, with a group of 

people present, an individual kissed him, he “pushed [her] away,” he 

checked “Facebook the next day[,] found out she was 17,” and told her, 

“[D]on’t talk to me until you are 18.”7 Id. at 8, 9. Appellant also stated he 

had “two checks . . . at home” for paying his fines. Id. at 6, 8. 

Furthermore, he averred that while in prison, he completed victim 

awareness and drug and alcohol programs, and that “[t]hey threw [him] in . 

. . sex offender treatment a little bit late” and thus did not have time to 

complete it, but nevertheless participated for five or six months. Id. at 8-9.

Finally, the Commonwealth averred Appellant “was babysitting children 

ages 1, 3 and 5,” which “violate[d] his no minor contact.” Id. at 11. In 

response, Appellant explained, “I had a relative who I worked with. We 

were at his home.” Id. However, Appellant conceded he was “not to be 

around minors.” Id.

 

6 No further information about the new criminal charges was disclosed.

7 At the time of the revocation hearing, Appellant was twenty-two years old.
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The trial court found Appellant in violation of probation and revoked 

his probation. The court then immediately imposed the instant sentence of 

one to two years’ imprisonment in a state correctional institution for 

aggravated indecent assault and a consecutive one year’s probation for 

corruption of a minor.

Appellant filed a timely post-sentence motion, arguing his sentence 

was excessive and should be reduced. The trial court denied the motion. 

Appellant did not initially file an appeal, but on February 20, 2015, filed a 

counseled petition under the Post Conviction Relief Act8to reinstate his 

direct appeal rights nunc pro tunc. The court granted the petition and this 

timely appeal followed.9

On appeal, Appellant argues “his sentence was excessive and 

unreasonable and constitutes too severe a punishment.” Appellant’s Brief at 

13. In support, he avers the following. At the revocation hearing, he 

“informed the court that he had the money . . . available to pay off his fines 

and costs,” and his “discharge from sex offender treatment was a result of 

care providers [sic] inquiring into impermissible areas, protected by the Fifth 

Amendment to the United States Constitution, during a polygraph.” Id. 

 

8 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546.

9 Appellant complied with the court’s order to file a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) 

statement of errors complained of on appeal. Furthermore, we note the trial 

court issued an opinion after the appellate briefs were filed with this Court; 

the court transmitted the opinion as a supplemental record to this Court.
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“While incarcerated, Appellant completed the Victim Awareness and Drug 

and Alcohol programs.” Id. Furthermore, the “new disclosure which 

contributed to his failure to complete sex offender treatment dealt with 

being unilaterally kissed by [a seventeen-year old] individual . . . at a 

party.” Id. However, Appellant “pushed [her] away and said they had to 

wait until she was eighteen.” Id. at 13-14. Finally, Appellant asserts he 

“accepted responsibility for his actions and stated that he learned a great 

deal from the sex offender program,” and that he “assured the court he 

would not reoffend.” Id. at 14. We find no relief is due.

Preliminarily, we note Appellant’s claim is a challenge to the 

discretionary aspects of sentencing. He raised this issue in his postsentence motion, his appellate brief includes a Pa.R.A.P. 2119(f) statement 

of the reasons relied upon for allowance of appeal, and he raises a 

substantial question. Thus, he has preserved this issue for our review. See 

Commonwealth v. Colon, 102 A.3d 1033, 1042-43 (Pa. Super. 2014) 

(stating that to reach merits of discretionary aspect of sentence issue, we 

must confirm, inter alia, appellant preserved issue, appellate brief includes 

Pa.R.A.P. 2119(f) statement of reasons relied upon for allowance of appeal 

with respect to discretionary aspects of sentence, statement raises 

substantial question that sentence is not appropriate under sentencing code, 

and that claim that probation revocation sentence is excessive in light of 

underlying technical violations can present substantial question that we 
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should review10), appeal denied, 109 A.3d 678 (Pa. 2015)

We consider the relevant standard of review:

The imposition of sentence following the revocation of 

probation is vested within the sound discretion of the trial 

court, which, absent an abuse of that discretion, will not be 

disturbed on appeal. An abuse of discretion is more than 

an error in judgment—a sentencing court has not abused 

its discretion unless the record discloses that the judgment 

exercised was manifestly unreasonable, or the result of 

partiality, prejudice, bias or ill-will.

Id. at 1043 (citation omitted).

“Upon revoking probation, a sentencing court may choose from any of 

the sentencing options that existed at the time of the original sentencing, 

including incarceration. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9771(b).” Colon, 102 A.3d at 1044. 

In imposing sentence after revocation of probation, 

the Sentencing Guidelines do not apply, and the revocation 

court is not cabined by Section 9721(b)’s requirement that 

“the sentence imposed should call for confinement that is 

consistent with the protection of the public, the gravity of 

the offense as it relates to the impact on the life of the 

victim and on the community, and the rehabilitative needs 

of the defendant.” 42 Pa.C.S. § 9721.

. . . [U]pon revoking probation, the trial court is limited 

only by the maximum sentence that it could have imposed 

originally at the time of the [initial] sentence, although . . . 

the court shall not impose a sentence of total confinement 

unless it finds that:

 

10 As stated above, the probation department averred at the revocation 

hearing that criminal charges were commenced for admissions arising during 

Appellant’s polygraph interview. However, no further information about any 

new case was disclosed, and the trial court made no further mention of the 

new charges at the hearing or in its opinion. Accordingly, we presume the 

court’s sentence of incarceration was not based on the new charges.
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(1) the defendant has been convicted of another 

crime; or

(2) the conduct of the defendant indicates that it is 

likely that he will commit another crime if he is not 

imprisoned; or

(3) such a sentence is essential to vindicate the 

authority of the court.

42 Pa.C.S. § 9771(c).

Commonwealth v. Pasture, 107 A.3d 21, 27-28 (Pa. 2014) (some 

citations omitted).

In the instant matter, the trial court considered “that on October 22, 

2014, [Appellant] tested positive for, and admitted use of, marijuana,” as 

well as his admission to “having unsupervised contact with the children of a 

relative.” Trial Ct. Op. at 2. Appellant does not acknowledge either of these 

facts on appeal or the fact that—although he allegedly had the funds—he did 

not pay the fines. Furthermore, the arguments he does present on appeal 

are the same as those presented to the trial court at the revocation hearing. 

In its opinion, the court reasoned:

The court properly considered [Appellant’s] lack of 

successful rehabilitation based upon his discharge from 

sexual offenders’ treatment related to contact with a 17 

year old. [Appellant] readily admitted that his contact with 

minors violated the conditions of parole, but appeared to 

lack awareness of the seriousness of such violations. 

[Appellant’s] choices to violate the conditions reflected to 

the court a propensity to repeat his prior sexual 

misconduct.

Id. at 3. Finally, the court considered that the sentence imposed was “well 
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below [the term] which [Appellant] could have received for a second degree 

felony . . . , ten years imprisonment.” Id. at 2 (citing 18 Pa.C.S. § 1103).

After reviewing the transcript of the revocation hearing, the trial 

court’s opinion, and the parties’ briefs, we find no relief is due. The trial 

court properly noted that upon revoking Appellant’s probation, it “ha[d] 

available to it all the options permissible at the time of initial sentencing.” 

See Pasture, 107 A.3d at 27-28; Trial Ct. Op. at 2. For the reasons cited 

by the trial court, we hold the imposition of one to two years’ imprisonment 

in a state correctional institution and one year’s probation is not an abuse of 

discretion. See Colon, 102 A.3d at 1043.

Judgment of sentence affirmed.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 11/23/2015