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A Warren man sentenced in 2024 to at least five years in state prison has had his sentence vacated recently in the Court of Common Pleas.
Gregory L. Berry was sentenced by Judge Maureen Skerda in March 2024 to 60 to 120 months incarceration with credit for 169 days of time served on a count of possession with intent to deliver. He was also sentenced to approximately $5,500 in fines and fees, submission of a DNA sample, priority for drug and alcohol treatment and one year of reentry supervision. Berry was also sentenced to five months to 10 months incarceration and $1,318.95 in restitution on a neglect of animals charge.
Berry didn’t dispute the guilty plea. In open court in March 2024, he told the court he was selling drugs to provide for his child. A search warrant executed in his home in October 2023 led to Warren County Drug Task Force officers seizing more than 1.75 pounds of cocaine estimated to have a value of more than $65,000.
“He does take responsibility,” Assistant Public Defender Francis Waweru said during Berry's sentencing hearing in March 2024. “He has taken responsibility from the very outset."
Berry’s lawyer filed a motion asking Skerda to reconsider the sentence, which the judge denied in May 2024, according to online court docket information. In June 2025 Berry filed a petition for post-conviction collateral relief, also known as a PCRA motion. The Pennsylvania Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) is a legal process that allows individuals to challenge a criminal conviction or sentence after direct appeals have failed, focusing on issues like ineffective assistance of counsel, newly discovered evidence, and constitutional violations.
Those filing a PCRA motion must have been convicted of a crime under Pennsylvania law, be serving a sentence of imprisonment, probation, or parole, or awaiting execution or a future sentence. Petitions must generally be filed within one year of the date the sentence becomes final with narrow exceptions for newly discovered facts, governmental interference or a newly recognized constitutional right. Claims in the excepted class must be filed within 60 days of when the claim could first have been presented.
A new attorney was appointed for Berry a few days after the PCRA claim was filed. A motion was filed, and granted in October 2025, granting an additional 60 days to file the PCRA motion, followed in November 2025 by a motion for limited discovery and an “in camera” review that was also granted by Skerda. An in camera review is a private examination by a judge used during limited discovery disputes to decide if sensitive, privileged, or confidential documents must be handed over to the opposing side. Discovery is limited to specific, relevant facts, with the judge alone reviewing the disputed files or unredacted documents in chambers away from the public and the opposing parties.
Skerda granted a second 60-day extension to file the PCRA petition in December 2025 followed by an extension request filed by the Warren County District Attorney’s Office that was also granted by Skerda. A third PCRA extension was granted by Judge Todd Woodin, who was elected to replace Skerda as of Jan. 1, 2026, with the final PCRA application filed on April 8, 2026. An evidentiary hearing was held in May 2026 by Woodin, with a second amended PCRA petition filed July 20, 2026.
On July 21, 2026, Woodin ruled in Berry’s favor to vacate the rest of his sentence.