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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; After what appears to have been a clerical error, a man sentenced to spend centuries in prison has won back his right to file an appeal.</p><p>Scott Lee Sargent, 34, of Shenandoah, has been serving an incredibly lengthy sentence &#8212; 179 to 358 years &#8212; in state prison since last December.</p><p>He was found guilty in October 2017 of dozens of counts stemming from a failed attack on the Wilkes-Barre Township Walmart. Sargent opened fire on officers and members of the public with an assault rifle in October 2015, but miraculously managed not to hit anyone before he was shot and arrested. Sargent claimed self-defense, saying he was protecting himself and his girlfriend from people who were following them.</p><p>Sargent appeared in court once again Wednesday before Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas, this time asking for his right to file an appeal to be reinstated.</p><p>He had apparently lost that right when he failed to file a notice of appeal within 30 days of sentencing. However, Sargent claims he did send correspondence to his trial attorney, Joseph Yeager, seeking to file the notice.</p><p>According to defense attorney Jeffrey Yelen, who was representing Sargent on Wednesday, Yeager never received the correspondence. He chalked it up to some sort of system error rather than Sargent actually failing to file the notice.</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino, who tried the case, said he believes Sargent&#8217;s claims of attempting to reach out to his former attorney about the appeal. He said he would have no issue with his appellate rights being reinstated.</p><p>Lupas issued an order Wednesday reinstating those rights, ordering Yelen to file a notice of appeal within 30 days. After that is done, Sargent&#8217;s case will be transferred to the Luzerne County Office of Conflict Counsel, where he will be represented by attorney Matthew Kelly.</p><p>Sargent created a shock in a county courtroom last year when Ferentino revealed that, after his conviction, Sargent had gotten a jailhouse tattoo of a gravestone, bearing the names of the officers he tried to kill. At the time, Ferentino said he hopes the tattoo serves as an eternal reminder &#8220;his last act as a free man was a failure.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Walmart shooter Scott Sargent is led out of Luzerne County Court after being sentenced last fall to centuries behind bars for the 2015 incident in Wilkes-Barre Township. A judge has now reinstated Sargent&#8217;s right to appeal his lengthy sentence. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL102117Scott-Sargent2-cmyk.jpg</photo0><caption0>Walmart shooter Scott Sargent is led out of Luzerne County Court after being sentenced last fall to centuries behind bars for the 2015 incident in Wilkes-Barre Township. A judge has now reinstated Sargent&#8217;s right to appeal his lengthy sentence. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Walmart shooter has his appellate rights reinstated