Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
When compared to the case that proceeded his, Clifford Macklin’s nearly three-year prison sentence seemed like a drop in the bucket to what it could have been.
The 36-year-old Crestline man took his seat at the defendant’s table in Crawford County Common Pleas Court Monday afternoon after another man just received 16 years in prison. Macklin pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony of tampering with evidence and two fifth-degree felonies of drug possession. His prison time included 18 months on the felony 3 and eight months on each felony 5 charge for a total of 34 months in prison. He was also fined $1,250 and received a six-month driver’s license suspension.
Macklin had been on probation when he was taken into custody by Crestline police for a probation violation in July during a suspicious death investigation that was later determined to be a drug overdose. He was terminated unsuccessfully from probation Monday as part of his guilty plea.
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The Good Samaritan Law has been in effect for two weeks now, but Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold has yet to see the benefits.
Leuthold granted a bond motion Monday for 54-year-old Mark Butler, of Bucyrus, but not before seriously weighing the consequences in Butler’s cases.
“I’m worried,” Leuthold admitted as he reviewed where Butler would be staying while out on his personal recognizance bond. “It’s not like they can keep an eye on you.”
Butler will be living with his elderly parents and his sister, but Leuthold believed it may turn into a matter of him taking care of them rather than getting the help he needs.
“Apparently, our Good Samaritan Law hasn’t had a positive effect,” Leuthold said.
Defense attorney Brian Gernert stated that Butler served 30 days in the county jail so far, a period that has helped him physically in his addiction. Despite his reservations about Butler’s living arrangements, Leuthold granted the bond motion and released Butler on a personal recognizance bond while the court awaits the results from a pre-sentence investigation. The judge ordered Butler to start treatment with Maryhaven immediately and set a curfew.
“Quite frankly, I’d rather see you in prison than dead,” Leuthold admitted. “You either clean up your act or you’re dead.”
Butler’s case will be set for a sentencing hearing at a later date.
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Two other people were sentenced to community control Monday morning. Twenty-three-year-old Alisha Hughes, of Marion, and 49-year-old James Busler, of Galion, each received five years on community control, six-month license suspensions, $1,250 fines, and were ordered to complete a drug and alcohol treatment programs.
Hughes pleaded guilty to felony 5 drug possession in August while Busler admitted to trafficking in drugs, a fifth-degree felony.
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Twenty-six-year-old Michael White, of Crestline, was arraigned on a fifth-degree felony theft charge. White allegedly took $1,206 in lottery tickets from a Shell gas station in Crestline between Aug. 1 and 7.
Leuthold appointed Sebastian Berger as White’s attorney and released White on a personal recognizance bond. The theft felony carries a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison.