A long running homicide case was finally resolved last Friday when a Pennsylvania judge named Philip A. Ignelzi sentenced a Pagans Motorcycle Club patch holder named Kevin J. Doolin to 18 to 36 months in jail and two years probation.
Doolin pled no contest to one count of involuntary manslaughter. The judge gave Doolin credit for 1,019 days served so Doolin will be free in about two months.
Doolin’s sentencing concludes a sensational case that began on March 12, 2009 in a roadhouse called the Longview Lounge in North Versailles, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh.
Albert Kolano
According to reports at the time, Albert Kolano and two friends went to the Longview to hear some music and that somehow led to an altercation with at least a dozen Pagans. Kolano called his brother to help him get out of there. Somebody in the bar called police. After Kolano’s brother arrived, with no police in sight, Kolano walked outside at about 1:30 a.m. and got into his car.
He was confronted by a Pagan, and former Pittsburgh cop, named Bryan Perun. When Kolano’s brother tried to drive away Perun allegedly stabbed a tire and said “You ain’t going nowhere.” Perun then pulled a gun and fired one shot into the ground and another shot in the air.
As Kolano drove out of the parking lot he passed a Sport Utility Vehicle occupied by John Miller, Nathaniel Robinson and Doolin. Allegedly, Doolin fired two shots at Kolano’s car. Kolano was shot in the torso and drove a short distance before drifting off the road and crashing into a tree. After police discovered Kolano he was pronounced dead at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Kolano was 33 years old.
Legal Aftermath
The case against the four accused men was complicated when it was eventually disclosed that an FBI informant named James R. “Pagan Ronnie” Howerton was in the bar when Kolano walked in. Neither the FBI nor local police have ever explained what part Howerton played in the dispute, which was reportedly over the music on the jukebox.
Perun, Miller, Robinson and Doolin were all charged with conspiracy to murder. Perun was also charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. Doolin, who fired the shot that killed Kolano was also charged with murder.
The charges against Miller and Robinson were soon dropped. Judge John K. Reilly Jr. dropped the charges against Doolin in June 2010 when he learned that Howerton had been in the bar trying to make drugs deals. Howerton’s role had never been disclosed to Doolin’s lawyer. Perun was tried and found not guilty in October 2011.
The murder charge against Doolin was reinstated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in July 2010. He was released on $400,000 bond with electronic monitoring in September 2010 but his bond was revoked in May 2012 after police learned that Doolin had gone to a Steelers football game. Doolin has been in jail since then.
This story was published on September 3, 2013 and revised on September 4. The original story said Doolin pled guilty. In fact, he pled nolo contendre or “no contest.”