Mothers are often very forgiving.
While Carol Kowall, who was sitting in District Judge Jacqueline Taschner's courtroom Tuesday afternoon, couldn't get the case against her son dismissed, she did agree to have numerous charges against Joseph T. Kowall, 31, reduced in a plea agreement.
Her son, along with Adam R. LaBarre of Palmer Township, were in court on charges of stealing a television and DVD player from Kowall's mother on June 14.
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"I really would like to drop the case," Carol Kowall told the judge, who explained that wasn't possible since the charges were filed by Palmer Township police.
"You're certainly a victim," the judge said. "Do you approve of the withdrawal of the felony charges?"
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"Yes," Kowall responded.
With that, charges of burglary, trespass, theft, criminal mischief and several conspiracy-to-attempt charges were withdrawn with both suspects accepting the charge of conspiracy to obtain stolen property.
On June 14 between 8:15am and 10:15am, LaBarre and Kowall entered the Kowall home at 108 Scotty Drive by prying off a screen and breaking a basement window, according to court records.
The two allegedly took a 46-inch Samsung LCD TV and mount worth $1,999.99 and a Blue Ray DVD player valued at $379.98 from the basement.
Carol Kowall told Palmer police that she left her home at 8:15am on June 14 and returned around 12:15pm.
Kowall said the front door was unlocked, but assumed that her husband had forgotten to lock it.
Later that day, her husband noticed that the TV and DVD player were missing.
Kowall said she also noticed that the basement window was broken.
She suspected that her son and his "new friend" Adam were involved.
Kowall said she had kicked her son out of the house because of his alleged drug use.
The next day, a worker at the Easton Exchange pawnshop said he bought the TV for $150 but didn't purchase the DVD player because it was missing the remote, court records state.
Video surveillance showed that LaBarre and Kowall were at the pawnshop selling the stolen items.