OWEGO, NY (607NewsNow) – A Tompkins County man could learn his fate at the end of the month.

Joseph Howell’s sentencing has been pushed back. The Newfield man was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping last October in the 2023 abduction and killing of Ithaca man Thomas Rath.

According to the Owego Pennysaver, officials did not disclose the reason for the delay, but Howell will return to court on January 31. He faces a maximum sentence of life without parole for the murder charge. The kidnapping charge comes with a 25 to life sentence but would likely be served at the same time.

Howell was additionally convicted of three counts of intimidating a witness, which comes with a possible two to four years for each charge and would be served consecutively.

Ithaca man Angelo Baez, convicted of first and second-degree murder and kidnapping in December, is scheduled for sentencing in Tioga County Court on February 28.

Next to stand trial related to the crime is Kysha Radcliff, of Lansing. She is accused of driving the car that transported Rath from Ithaca’s “Jungle” encampment to Joseph Howell’s Newfield home at 70 Benjamin Hill Road, where Rath was tortured. Radcliff faces a first-degree kidnapping charge at her trial next month.

A third man charged with Rath’s murder, Jonathon Glennon, is expected to stand trial in March.