By Krystal Smalley and Jordan Studer
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
news@wbcowqel.com
One of the women involved in the Crestline drug bust in June was sentenced to prison Wednesday.
Twenty-two-year-old Brooke Weickum pleaded guilty to three counts of felony five drug possession while an additional count of permitting drug abuse was dismissed.
Weickum was arrested, along with Angela Carroll, Chelsea Prosser, and Charles Tyler, on June 18 after a multiple-agency task force executed a search warrant at 904 Dales Place in Crestline. Officers seized suspected heroin, pills, syringes, drug paraphernalia, and more than $1,000 in cash. The three women were held on felony drug charges while Tyler was charged with probation violation.
Weickum was sentenced to 12 months on each felony drug count for a total of 36 months. She must also pay a $1,250 drug fine and forfeit drug property to the Crestline Police Department and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office.
Judge Sean Leuthold warned Weickum that this was the wrong county to be doing drugs “whether dealing it, selling it, possessing it, or using it.”
Three people alleged to be major drug dealers are officially facing their crimes together. The county prosecutor’s office made a motion in Crawford County Common Pleas Court Wednesday afternoon to consolidate the cases of April Dyer, Gary Poth, and Joshua Keith into one case.
The three were arrested on June 10 after police executed a search warrant at 902 Maple St. where approximately 11 grams of what officers believed to be “Blue Drop” heroin along with cash and drug paraphernalia were found. The arrests were not linked to the arrest made in Marion.
Bucyrus Police Chief Dave Koepke reported at the time that he believed the house was linked to several recent overdoses in Bucyrus.
Assistant prosecutor Ryan Hoovler explained that when Keith was arraigned in Common Pleas Court in June that reports from that drug bust indicated Dyer and Poth told police they purchased nearly 90 grams of the drug from Keith over the previous 30 days and sold 30 grams while using the rest to support their own addictions.
Those statements to law enforcement will be the subject of a hearing on a motion to suppress evidence on Aug. 28. Judge Leuthold has set aside the entire day specifically for that matter. The court is expected to hear five hours of audio statements.
A three-day trial is set for Sept. 24.
Three more people were sentenced Wednesday. Thirty-one-year-old Brandon Brown of Bucyrus was charged with possession of drugs was sentenced Wednesday morning. He received five years of community control.
Thirty-nine-year-old Sabrina Costello of Bucyrus was charged with possession of drugs and was sentenced with five years of community control.
Twenty-nine-year-old Lindsey Atwood of Bucyrus was charged with possession of heroin. Atwood was sentenced to five years of community control and placed into the Intensive Supervision and Treatment program.
It was a return to court for three people Wednesday afternoon. Zachariah Spade, Melinda Perkins, and William Moore appeared in Common Pleas Court for community control violations.
Twenty-four-year-old Melinda Perkins of Bucyrus admitted to being found last week in a vehicle with convicted felon Phil Gallant. Perkins was only on community control for one week after pleading guilty to theft before she was picked up by police.
Perkins’ community control was continued with new terms added on: she must not have any contact with Gallant or Anthony Ross, a man she had been texting and, Leuthold noted, someone who is known for being in the drug trade.
Leuthold suspected there was something more nefarious going on than riding in a car with a family friend but warned Perkins that she needed to straighten up and fly right.
“Stay away from these people and stop doing what I think you’re doing,” he said before dismissing her from the courtroom.
Thirty-one-year-old William Moore admitted to testing positive for heroin, admitting to using heroin, and failing to follow the rules of the court’s Intensive Supervision Treatment (ISAT) program.
Moore was an active participant in the ISAT program for over a year and had been a positive role model, according to Leuthold. The judge believed this instance may have been a onetime mistake for Moore and credited him for being forthcoming and honest about what happened.
Leuthold continued Moore on community control with the stipulation that he serves the first 60 days in the county jail.
Twenty-four-year-old Spade of Crestline denied allegations that he entered a Galion residence on July 26 and used a vehicle without authorization in May. Judge Leuthold ordered the matter to be set for a full hearing and set bond at $100,000. Spade could potentially face an additional felony charge that stem from the violations.
A man accused of allegedly raping a woman in Galion signed a waiver of a speedy trial Wednesday afternoon. Leuthold reminded 52-year-old Maximino Hernandez that he was allowed a trial within 90 days of his arrest.
Defense attorney Adam Stone said he filed the waiver because he believed it was important to his client’s defense in preparation for a trial.
Hernandez is in the country on a visa and has been in Crawford County for eight months. Though his family lives in Galion and he was working at El Tarasco at the time of the alleged incident, Leuthold believed at the time of Hernandez’s arraignment that he did not have any significant ties to the community.
Hernandez is charged with allegedly engaging in sexual conduct with a victim and purposefully compelling the victim to submit by force or threat of force on May 18. The first degree felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Hernandez is being held on a $500,000 bond. A trial date will be determined.