{"id":16294,"date":"2016-08-12T10:56:51","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T14:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=16294"},"modified":"2016-08-12T10:58:59","modified_gmt":"2016-08-12T14:58:59","slug":"former-coatesville-athletic-director-gets-jail-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=16294","title":{"rendered":"Former Coatesville athletic director gets jail time"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Sometimes sorry isn’t enough’\u00a0<\/em><\/h2>\n

By Lauren Parker- Gill,<\/strong>\u00a0News Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"James<\/a>

James Donato in a Times’ file photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

WEST CHESTER \u2013 The former athletic director of the Coatesville Area High School, James Donato, was given a sentence of between\u00a0two and 23 months in prison by Chester County Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge Thomas G. Gavin in the presence of current Coatesville school board members, the superintendent of the district, parents, students and alumni, Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth my mother and sister were teachers\u2026I have great respect for teachers.\u201d Gavin stated at the beginning of the sentencing.<\/p>\n

Referencing several previous cases and his 31 years on the bench, Gavin carefully explained his reasoning in deciding upon Donato\u2019s sentence. Citing\u00a0several other sentences handed down in the past to first-time offenders for thefts from both private and public entities.<\/p>\n

The past sentences Gavin mentioned included cases he presided over as well as other judges in Chester County. In each case, several considerations were made; whether the defendant showed remorse, an ability to pay back monies and whether they seemed likely to commit more crime.<\/p>\n

One case mentioned was that of former Coatesville Detective Gerald Pawling of Coatesville, who plead guilty to more than 100 felonies and misdemeanors, including thefts of more than $40,000 and forgeries. Pawling was sentenced to 11 and \u00bd to 23 months in prison.<\/p>\n

Gavin stated that Donato, to his credit, showed remorse and had paid back the $15,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve waited three years to apologize,\u201d Donato stated as he addressed the court. \u201cWithout question, this is not who I am or how I was raised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donato said he was equally sorry for letting his family, friends, coaches and fellow athletic directors down.<\/p>\n

Gavin stated that although he does not believe Donato will commit another crime, the case still deserved some serious consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, saying sorry is not enough,\u201d Gavin said, quoting the late county prosecutor John Crane.<\/p>\n

Donato showed no reaction to the sentence, will serve everyday of the two months of the sentence before he will be eligible for parole. In addition he received five years of probation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI commend Judge Gavin for his well-reasoned and thought out sentence of Mr. Donato. While we were hoping for probation, Mr. Donato will serve his sentence knowing that he was finally able to apologize to the school district and those who his actions harmed,\u201d stated Donato\u2019s attorney, Daniel Bush in an email.<\/p>\n

School board members and Taschner showed respect for the Gavin\u2019s decision:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school board stands behind its original statement and the A.D.A.\u2019s recommendation for the maximum sentence, however respects the decision of the court and Judge Gavin.\u201d Snyder stated in a phone call.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court has spoken on this matter and The Coatesville Area School District respects the decision of the court.\u201d Said Taschner.<\/p>\n

Cardamone could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

Donato has until 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 15, to turn himself in, so as to have the opportunity to explain this to his family, including his children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Sometimes sorry isn’t enough’\u00a0 By Lauren Parker- Gill,\u00a0News Editor, The Times WEST CHESTER \u2013 The former athletic director of the Coatesville Area High School, James Donato, was given a sentence of between\u00a0two and 23 months in prison by Chester County Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge Thomas G. Gavin in the presence of current Coatesville […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":16298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1826,187,6269,2432],"class_list":["post-16294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-athletic-director-james-donato","tag-coatesville-area-school-district","tag-featured","tag-tags-chester-county-court-senior-judge-thomas-g-gavin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16294"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16301,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16294\/revisions\/16301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}