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Man pleads guilty but mentally ill to harassment at Saint Vincent Madeleine O'Neill

Erie Times-News - 2/14/2017

A homeless man who was accused of choking a nurse at Saint Vincent Hospital is set to be paroled after he pleaded guilty but mentally ill to a reduced charge on Monday.

Erie police said the defendant, Steveland E. Robinson, threatened staff at Saint Vincent and put his hands on a nurse's neck on Dec. 8, 2015.

Robinson, 28, was originally charged with aggravated assault in the case, but instead pleaded guilty but mentally ill to a reduced charge of harassment, a third-degree misdemeanor.

Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender also sentenced Robinson, giving him six to 12 months in the Erie County Prison on the charge. Robinson received credit for time served since Dec. 8, 2015, which was longer than the maximum sentence of one year on the harassment charge.

Brabender said Robinson could be discharged when a parole plan was in place.

Robinson was housed at the Torrance State Hospital during part of his incarceration after he was found incompetent to stand trial.

Robinson's lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Maria Goellner, said Robinson's competency was believed to have been restored during his stay at Torrance.

Goellner also said Robinson's IQ had previously tested at 61 and he had undergone "innumerable commitments" for his mental health problems.

"This is a classic case of using the prison system to treat our mentally ill," she said.

An IQ of 61 puts Robinson's intellectual functioning in the bottom 2 percent of the population, according to the Intellectual Disability Rights Service.

Goellner said she was hopeful Robinson would be approved for a residential mental health rehabilitation program after his release from prison.

Madeleine O'Neill can be reached at 870-1728 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNoneill.