Man who choked teenage girl in kitchen sentenced to 9-23 months in prison

An Upper Chichester man convicted of choking a teenager in his kitchen during a pool party in June has been sentenced to between nine and 23 months in county jail.

Craig Devakow, 39, was also ordered to serve two years of probation, complete an anger management course and refrain from approaching the victim, according to the sentence handed down by Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Alice Brennan.

Devakov was found guilty of one count of strangulation and two counts of simple assault after a jury trial. He was acquitted of six other charges, including aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and possessing a prohibited firearm.

The jury heard testimony from the victim who said Devakov choked her in his home, in the first block of East Tansley Drive, on July 15, 2023.

The victim, who was 17 at the time, told Assistant District Attorney Meghan Rafter that she had gone to a pool party with an acquaintance who worked for Devakov and that she had drinks there.

They decided to leave after a while, and the friend went to the bathroom. The victim waited in the kitchen, looking at her phone, leaning on the counter in front of the sink. Two other people in the kitchen were dancing but left the room, she said.

The victim said Devakov at one point went into the kitchen, left briefly, then returned with a gun. The victim said he was scared but paid attention to the phone.

“Craig came back waving the gun and screaming, yelling, saying, ‘I just got out of prison, didn’t you read the Daily Times? Didn’t you know what I just did?’ and then he choked me,” the victim said. “And then he held me down like my head was in a sink, choking me and just kept shouting at me and he was sticking the gun in my neck.”

The victim said she thought her life was over at that point, but another person entered the room and screamed at Devakov, who freed her. She then fled the house and reported the assault to police that same night.

Other partygoers also gave statements contradicting the victim’s story, saying they never saw Devakov with a gun, and the man who allegedly intervened said it never happened. Others said they only heard Devakov admonish the victim for drinking at his house because she was underage.

Still, Upper Chichester police officer Phillip Troutman said he captured photos of injuries to the victim’s neck and back that were consistent with her story, and Jake Chmielowski, an emergency medical technician with Boothwyn Fire Company, said that when he examined her that night, he found her neck to be swollen and discoloured.

The weapon was never found, but Upper Chichester detective Michael Molineux noted that Devakow had been missing for more than a week after the attack and that he had reportedly spent some time in the Poconos before turning himself in to a lawyer.

Rafter asked for a sentence of 11½ to 23 months.

She noted that Devakov was on bail in connection with two other cases when the assaults, including strangulation, occurred and the victim was a random teenage girl with whom the accused had no previous contact.

Rafter also read a letter from the victim in court, in which the woman testified she felt her life was over when Devakov choked her, and prayed her mother would know she loved her.

“Craig decided to strangle me and hold me at gunpoint,” she wrote in the letter. “Not only did he put the gun to my neck, he pushed it so hard, choking me so hard, that I couldn’t breathe and I was seeing stars.”

The victim said she now has difficulty trusting other people because she is afraid of meeting someone like Devakov, and her family has had to deal with her trauma, fear and sadness.

Attorney Robert Deluca also testified on behalf of Devakov’s mother, who said he was the family’s breadwinner and had a difficult childhood. A longtime friend and employee of his company also testified, describing Devakov as a wonderful father to his nine children and a great boss who does charitable work, such as fixing sewers for families for free at Christmas.

Deluca said his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and has admitted to having some mental health issues that have led to two suicide attempts, the most recent in 2021.

Deluca said Devakov also suffers from physical ailments stemming from a motorcycle accident and has three minor children at home who are also dependent on him. He argued that treatment and counseling would be more appropriate than incarceration and asked the judge to impose a sentence of restorative sanctions.

Devakov declined to comment.

Brennan gave Devakov credit for time served in prison from July 26 to Aug. 16, 2023.

Devakov has three other pending criminal cases: an earlier alleged assault and strangulation that occurred on July 1, 2023, and two counts of driving under the influence in separate incidents in June and December 2023.

Devakov was given a report date of September 17 and all three cases are expected to be heard by the court on the same day.