His skills will be tested in state prison

While waiting to stand trial with his mother and twin brother next year on burglary and conspiracy charges, Taleon Goffney was sentenced yesterday to four to eight years in state prison for a one-man burglary last December.

Goffney, 26, of Maple Shade, N.J., gained notoriety in February when he and his twin brother, Keyontyli, with whom he co-starred in several Internet gay-porn videos, were arrested for allegedly breaking in through the roofs of area businesses. They were arrested Feb. 19 in South Philadelphia by a tri-state Rooftop Burglary Task Force that was created to investigate 45 similar crimes.

The twins' mother, Towana, 42, was arrested in April for allegedly serving as a lookout in the Feb. 19 burglary.

Yesterday's case before Common Pleas Judge Michael Erdos involved Taleon Goffney's arrest last Dec. 10, when he was caught sawing a hole in the roof of the Super Seven Deli on Frankford Avenue near Vista Street in Northeast Philadelphia.

A trained martial artist, Goffney jumped from the roof of the building but was apprehended in a nearby alley after a struggle with police.

Goffney's attorney, Michael Gushue, contended yesterday that his client's sentence should be mitigated because even though he "technically resisted arrest," he had not applied the force against officers that a "national champion" in martial arts could have.

Assistant District Attorney Smitha Vemuri refuted that theory by noting that Goffney had told officers during the struggle: "Don't make me hurt you."

Goffney, who became notorious among police for his skill at escaping, was caught in Clementon, Camden County, in 2006. While handcuffed in the back seat of a police cruiser, he smashed out the rear window with his head and dove out of the moving car. He ran off before jumping into a nearby pond.

"He swam across like Flipper, taunting the officers saying, 'You'll never catch me,' " Clementon Police Chief Dave Kunkle told the Daily News then.

Yesterday, Gushue said his client was a changed man.

"I believe he's had an epiphany," Gushue said. "He's seen the light. He's not a kid anymore."

A 28-year-old woman, who identified herself as Goffney's fiancee, said, "He's a good person."

"I think he's realizing he's too old to fool around anymore," she said.

Goffney, who spoke briefly on his own behalf, said he wasn't thinking about others when he committed his crimes.

"I know, due to my past, it will be hard to believe in the discontinuancy of my behavior," he said. "But I have no intentions of re-creating this type of situation."

Prosecutor Vemuri said Goff-ney had had opportunities to take responsibility for his actions but instead has "made a career out of this type of behavior."

Judge Erdos called Goffney a repeat, multistate, "equal-opportunity offender" who committed crimes while on probation, while awaiting sentencing and while awaiting trial.

Erdos noted that yesterday's case occurred about a month after Goffney was sentenced to more than five years' probation for an Alabama burglary.

Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Caroline Keating said Alabama authorities issued a warrant for Goffney in March for violating his probation in that case. Courts there are awaiting Goffney's April trial before sentencing him on the violation, she said.

Goffney, who has been in prison since his February arrest, will get credit for time served. Keyontyli Goffney, who now lives in New York City, remains free on more than $200,000 bail. Their mother, of Sicklerville, N.J., is free on $7,500 bail. *