Guilty pleas in Utica crime spree

A young Seneca area man had no previous criminal record.  But the guilty pleas that Donte Robert Bacon entered today in the General Sessions Court subject him to a potential sentence that would send him to prison for the rest of his life.  However, at the request of the prosecutor, the judge will defer sentencing for at least two months.  Deputy Solicitor David Wagner says his office wishes to delay Bacon’s sentencing until trial is held for Bacon’s co-defendant, James William Toward, the man who is accused of pulling the trigger that took the life of Scott Andrew Johnson around January 1, 2014 at 24 Ames Street in Utica.  Before Judge Sprouse, Bacon pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, first degree burglary, kidnapping, and grand larceny.  According to Wagner, Bacon and Toward intended to steal guitars and sell them to make money to buy drugs.  Bacon was 16 years old at the time of his arrest.  He told Judge Scott Sprouse that he is now 18 years old. Besides the death of Johnson, the two defendants are also accused of kidnapping a woman inside the Ames Street house.