Muncy man held in barroom death freed

April 08, 2009 07:39 am

— WILLIAMSPORT — A Muncy man jailed for more than a year accused of a barroom murder is free.
Jeremy Michael Ball, 32, was ordered released Tuesday after he pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced by Lycoming County Judge Nancy L. Butts to 6 to 12 months in prison.
Ball had been in prison without bail since being arrested shortly after Jason L. Sanner, 32, of the Muncy area, was pronounced dead following a fight in Papagallo’s, a bar in Muncy, on Feb. 29, 2008.
He claimed then it was a case of self-defense but that is not why District Attorney Eric Lindhardt approved a plea agreement. The autopsy revealed the two punches landed by Ball were not lethal blows, but Sanner died from a heart problem.
Ball told police after being arrested that he got into an altercation with Sanner, whom he called his best friend in high school, because he said something about his ex-wife.
The arrest affidavit stated Ball knocked Sanner to the floor, then Saner got up and hit Ball, who then punched him again. Sanner fell back onto the concrete floor.
Muncy police justified the third-degree murder charge, saying Ball had the opportunity to walk away but did not.
Also part of Ball’s sentence was restitution of about $3,300 for funeral expenses. The third-degree murder charge plus counts of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.