Mast sentenced to 18 years in Roy Marvin murder

JERRY MAST

Just one week after Sarah Briggs received a life sentence in the 2015 murder of Roy Marvin in Susquehanna County, co-defendant Jerry Mast was sentenced to serve 18-40 years in prison for his role in the crime.
Testimony given by Mast in the Briggs’ trial led to her conviction on the first degree murder charge in November. Mast pleaded guilty in December 2015 to third degree murder, as well as a third degree robbery count.
At the sentencing hearing Wednesday in the Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas, Mast said, “I’m responsible for my own actions.
“I’m not here to show you I feel bad; I’m here to show the family I feel bad,” he told the court. “I can’t bring him back. I can’t set it right,” Mast said, offering his remorse and apologies to the victim’s family.
Marvin sustained 29 stab wounds that led to his Feb. 10, 2015 death on Harmony Rd., Great Bend Twp.
Susquehanna County Senior Judge Kenneth Seamans handed down the sentence after six members of Marvin’s family offered emotional testimony on the stand.
The judge said the murder was one of the “more horrendous, more brutal” cases that had come before the court. “(Roy Marvin) died alone, at the hands of yourself and Sarah Briggs,” he said to Mast.
Judge Seamans also acknowledged that the testimony provided by Mast in the Briggs’ trial was instrumental in securing her conviction.
He added that although he believed Briggs played a large role in planning and carrying out the murder, “You could have stopped it at any time.”
On the stand, the victim’s family members asked that Mast receive the maximum sentence.
“You already got your break,” said the victim’s sister, Stephanie Button. “My brother deserved a life. You killed man to get high and drink milkshakes.”
Marvin’s grandmother, Sandy Button, said that she understood how crucial Mast’s testimony was for Briggs’ conviction. But she described murder as being “cold, calculated and brutal.”
“It’s as if you stabbed me those 29 times,” she said. “We felt each of his 29 wounds.”
She asked for Mast to cooperate in any future appeals of Briggs. “You owe Roy. You owe us.”
Three character witnesses spoke on behalf of Mast at the hearing, including his father.
“I want to say I am so sorry to (Marvin’s) family. I know that won’t make it better; it won’t bring him back. But I’m so sorry,” he told the court.
Mast was also sentenced to serve four to eight years on the robbery count; and one to 12 months on a theft charge. Both will run concurrent with the murder sentence. He will receive credit for his time served. Mast has been held in the Susquehanna County Correctional Facility since his arrest in February 2015.