LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A Lancaster County man previously convicted of stalking and defiant trespass will serve up to 22 months in prison plus eight years of probation after a sentencing hearing in Lancaster County Court on Monday.
Thomas F. Wainman, Jr., 52, of Lititz, was found guilty by a Lancaster County jury of stalking his neighbors over a period of several months in 2020, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
His actions included shining spotlights into the victims' home, peering through their windows, watching them while they were at their swimming pool, and following them in a vehicle after seeing them at a gas station, according to prosecutors.
Wainman also used his job as a UPS driver to deliver packages to the victims' home, and then would wait outside until they got them, prosecutors said.
When Lancaster County Judge David Ashworth gave Wainman the chance to speak, he stated that his actions were misinterpreted and that he never intended to cause any harm.
Assistant District Attorney Janie Swinehart, who prosecuted the case, argued for an aggregate sentence of two to 10 years, stating that Wainman hadn’t taken responsibility before the trial, during the trial, or even during the sentencing hearing.
“It’s not the misinterpretation of the (victims), it’s the behavior of the defendant,” Swinehart said before sentence was ordered.
Swinehart also noted the defendant’s continued conduct of harassing the victims through the law by sending a perjury complaint to the Attorney General’s Office on the victims and seeking out confidential information of the victims such as private emails and business locations.
Judge Ashworth sentenced Wainman to the county prison term with probation to follow, 100 hours of community service, restitution payments, any needed counseling and treatment, and to have no contact directly, indirectly, or through a third party with the victims, who attended the sentencing hearing.
“This case was about conduct,” Ashworth said to the defendant. “This was not about intention or what you thought, it was about what you did.
"Not once did you acknowledge your culpability in this.”
Wainman was taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs and transported to Lancaster County Prison.