MONTICELLO – Two men were found guilty of attempted gang assault in Sullivan County Court on March 25 in connection with the beating of a man in the Village of Liberty in 2025.
Sullivan County District Attorney Brian Conaty announced that Richard Olsen Jr., 41, and Jonathan Nipitella, 44, were found guilty of attempted first-degree gang assault, a felony, following a six-day jury trial.
According to testimony given during the trial, Olsen and Nipitella, assisted by two other individuals, Michael Maus and Dante Vandunk Jr., attempted to cause serious physical injury to their victim, Dylan Pascariello, by beating him and kicking him in the head at an inn in the Village of Liberty on March 28, 2025.
Pascariello was rushed to a local hospital, where he was treated for a facial fracture and internal hemorrhaging of his brain.
Prior to the start of the trial, Maus pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony, and Vandunk pleaded guilty to first-degree gang assault, a felony. They are currently awaiting sentencing.
Olsen’s attorney, Michael McGuire, said, “We’re disappointed with the outcome. We thought it was possible the jury could conclude there was no intention to cause serious physical injury. But the process worked, the jury worked hard and listened to everything, and we thank them for their service.”
Nipitella’s attorney, Frank J. Labuda, said, “My client is definitely going to appeal.”
Olsen and Nipitella are scheduled to be sentenced by Sullivan County Court Judge James Farrell on June 15.
“I want to thank the jury for returning a just verdict, and also thank the Village of Liberty Police Department for their swift work in securing video evidence, interviewing witnesses and identifying and locating the perpetrators of this crime,” Conaty said in a statement released by his office. “Without their efforts, this crime likely would have gone unsolved, because the victim could not identify the perpetrators as a result of his injuries.”
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Two Sullivan County men guilty of attempted gang assault in beating
Reporting by Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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