By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
A Crestline woman was sentenced to prison Tuesday afternoon, but her punishment could easily have been twice as harsh.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jessica Sargent pleaded guilty to two counts of fifth-degree felony drug possession in Crawford County Common Pleas Court. Her agreed-to sentence involved 12 months in prison on each count, but the sentences will be served concurrently to a total of one year in prison. Sargent was also fined $1,250 and ordered to forfeit drug-related property being held to the Crestline Police Department.
“You’re going to prison,” Judge Sean Leuthold said. “It’s not the end of the world. It might be exactly what you need.”
Douglas Swart’s inability to follow the rules while on community control landed him in prison, but he will not be serving the entire 36 months he was sentenced to.
The 53-year-old Bucyrus man admitted to urinalysis tests showing positive for opiates and Suboxone and consuming beer. He was sentenced to the maximum penalty on all three
underlying felonies for a total of 36 months, but will only have to serve six months of that 
time in prison. After that, Swart will then be placed in a community-based correctional facility.
“Despite the fact you can’t seem to do anything I
tell you to, I’m going to help you out,” Leuthold told Swart.
Swart originally pleaded guilty to three drug possession felonies in 2015, though one of those stemmed from a 2013 incident for which he attempted to complete an intervention program.
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Twenty-five-year-old Lorianne Bright, of Fremont, pleaded guilty to felony 5 drug possession and misdemeanor 1 endangering children. Leuthold ordered a pre-sentence investigation and continued her bond.
Bright is expected to receive 180 days in jail on the misdemeanor charge, five years on community control, entrance into a drug and alcohol treatment program, and a $1,250 fine.
Leuthold pointed out the rarity of the intervention in lieu of conviction program within his courtroom, but hoped Robin Parker would be able to follow in the successful footsteps of the few people who did enter into it since his time on the bench.
“A program, quite frankly, that has all but disappeared in this court,” Leuthold acknowledged before noting that Parker was a good candidate for it.
The 47-year-old Crestline woman pleaded guilty to deception to obtain a dangerous drug, a fifth-degree felony. Leuthold will hold that guilty plea until Parker successfully completes the program.
“I don’t do this very often,” Leuthold warned her. “If you mess this up I won’t be very pleased.”