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Vanbergen Receives Maximum Prison Sentence in Lewis
County Court Following June Jury Conviction for Manslaughter
Published: September 10, 2025
at 04:10 p.m.
By: Press Release
from Lewis County District Attorney’s Office
MEDIA RELEASE
Sentencing After Conviction by Jury
On Tuesday, September
9, 2025, Lewis County Court Judge Daniel R. King sentenced Jacob M. Vanbergen
to 25 years in prison as the result of his June 20, 2025, conviction of Manslaughter
in the First Degree.
Vanbergen, 26, of
Coudersport, PA, was found by a jury to have killed Brandon Shepker, 39,
also of Coudersport, PA, by strangling him at the Ridge View Lodge in
Lowville, New York, on January 6, 2024. The two men had come to Lewis
County together, to look at camps for a potential purchase.
The case was prosecuted
by Lewis County District Attorney Jeffery Tompkins,
Assistant District Attorney Joseph Hobika III, and Special Counsel Angelo
Partipelo, III. Vanbergen was represented
by Gary Miles, Esq., Genevieve Fidler, Esq., and Michael Young, Esq., of Lewis
Defenders, PLLC, of Lowville.
Agencies
participating in the investigation and conviction of Vanbergen included the
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, Pennsylvania State
Police, and the Lewis County District Attorney’s Office.
The District
Attorney’s Office requested the maximum sentence. Also speaking at the
sentencing were the victim’s mother, brother, and a close friend, all of
whom traveled from Pennsylvania to Lewis County to personally speak to the
Court and request the maximum sentence as well. A number
of other friends and family of the victim were also in attendance. The
Defendant chose not to speak at the sentencing.
Lewis County
District Attorney Jeffery Tompkins was pleased with the Judge’s decision to
order the maximum sentence. He said it “can’t make up for the loss of a
loved one, but it’s satisfying to know the maximum penalty was given when
applied to facts that clearly called for the longest sentence available
under the law.”
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