A Schuylkill County man was sentenced to state prison for his role in an attack involving an axe and knife in Girardville last year.
Schuylkill County Judge Andrew Serina sentenced Isaiah Fasig, 21, of Ashland, to 18 months to 6 years in state prison on Tuesday morning inside Courtroom 6 at the Courthouse in Pottsville.
Fasig previously agreed to plead guilty to a single count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in this case.
Assistant District Attorney Tom Pellish recommended a similar sentence to the one imposed by Serina and said his suggestion was based on information revealed through the continuing investigation into the incident. Pellish told Serina that the prosecution learned that Fasig’s actions were likely caused by aggressive acts on the part of the victim in the incident.
Fasig was also sentenced to a period of 4 years of probation after he’s released from prison. His guilty plea and sentencing stem from a violent confrontation on the night of Aug. 3, 2025, in the 100 block of N. Line St. in Girardville.
In handing down his sentence, Serina acknowledged the fact that the victim may have been the aggressor in this incident but for Fasig, it wasn’t his first run-in with the law and not his first violent act.
“This is an extreme incident involving weapons,” the judge said. “This wasn’t just fists flying. You have a history of violence.”
According to the original police affidavit, State Police at Frackville responded to a reported disturbance at about 11:30 p.m. and found a man who had been stabbed multiple times. He was transported to Geisinger Medical Center-Danville for treatment.
Police immediately detained Fasig, then 20, and co-defendant Anthony Lagambina, then 27, who were both present at the scene. Lagambina was sentenced in March to 8-23 months in prison on a simple assault charge related to this incident.
During the investigation, police reviewed surveillance footage from a nearby garage. The video showed the victim and his brother arguing with Fasig and Lagambina near the victim’s vehicle at about 11:15 p.m. According to police, the footage showed Fasig holding a double-edged ax in one hand and a knife in the other. Police noted that Fasig and Lagambina were yelling and repeatedly using a racial slur throughout the video.
Following the arrests, investigators recovered two double-edged axes and two knives, including one with what appeared to be blood on it—from a home where Fasig was in the process of moving.
The victim’s brother, who was a passenger in the vehicle, told police they were traveling north on Line St. when they encountered Fasig and Lagambina walking south into oncoming traffic. The brother stated that an argument ensued through the driver’s side window, during which Fasig stabbed the seated victim twice on the left side and struck him with the ax. The brother also alleged Lagambina stabbed the victim twice.
In his police interview, Fasig offered a different account. He told investigators the confrontation stemmed from an issue Lagambina had with the victim earlier that night. Fasig stated he armed himself and gave a knife to Lagambina, and the two went looking for the victim.
Fasig claimed that during the argument at the vehicle, the victim grabbed his ax. Fasig told police he stabbed the man to force him to let go, asserting he believed the victim was drunk and unpredictable.
“I coulda got his neck. You know what I mean,” Fasig told police. “I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I was trying to get the weapon back off him.”
When the victim allegedly refused to release the ax, Fasig told police, “I had to give him a couple, you know, stabs.” When asked why he didn’t flee the scene, Fasig stated he did not want to abandon the ax, telling investigators, “It’s mine.”
Fasig told police Lagambina did not stab the victim, and denied that the victim was hit with an ax.
Lagambina told investigators he did not stab the victim, but admitted he swung a knife during the altercation. “I tried to hit someone, but I hit the (bleeping) car,” Lagambina told police.
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