By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Wednesday had been anticipated as Judge Russell Wiseman’s last day of hearings in Crawford County Common Pleas Court prior to his retirement. For three men and a woman, it was also the day they were sentenced to prison.
The final defendant from the burglary of Lucky’s Cash and Carry in Tiro is one of those headed to prison but not before he received a stern reprimand from the judge. Twenty-one-year-old Randle Battles of Tiro appeared in court for sentencing Wednesday after earlier pleading guilty to second-degree burglary.
Battles, Jacob Diemer and a male juvenile who was 16 at the time broke into the convenience store last July. Battles was sentenced to prison for four years and could get out in judicial release after serving nine months. Battles was also ordered to pay nearly $6,000 in restitution.
Dimer was also given a four-year prison sentence in the case last December and must serve nine months before he can apply for judicial release
Wiseman told Battles he owed his attorney, Andrew Motter, an apology for his lack of cooperation. Wiseman also told Battles, “I’ve looked at your record and it’s ridiculous.”
Because of medical issues, Battles was given until 8 a.m. Friday to report to the county jail for transport to prison.
One woman decided the intervention in lieu of conviction program just wasn’t to her liking and opted for prison instead. Twenty-three-year-old Chandelle Cummings of Galion told Common Pleas Court Judge Russell Wiseman on Wednesday that she did not want to comply with the rules of her treatment program including in-patient treatment. Cummings was placed on the program in April of 2013.
Cummings was also cited by her probation officer for not reporting to him as scheduled and not providing a change of address. Wiseman then accepted Cummings’ guilty pleas to four fifth-degree felony charges of drug possession which had been on hold and sentenced her to four concurrent nine-month terms in prison.
A fifth drug-related charge which was a misdemeanor was dropped.
Two men, one from Bucyrus and the other from Galion, pleaded guilty to unrelated charges and were also sentenced to prison Wednesday.
Thirty-five-year-old Shawn Higgenbotham of Bucyrus pleaded guilty to third-degree felony failure to comply and was sentenced to 36 months in prison. Higgenbotham is eligible to apply for judicial release after serving six months of that sentence.
Thirty-year-old Jonathon Starrett had the balance of a four-and-one-half year prison sentence imposed amounting to approximately one year after he admitted to probation violations. Starrett was out on judicial release and on community control following convictions for receiving stolen property and burglary.
A new felony charge for breaking and entering against Starrett was dropped in exchange for admitting to the probation violations.
Joshua Prosser, Jonathon Marks and Joanne Pasqualini were all granted their motions to be placed on the intervention in lieu of conviction program. Each pleaded guilty to drug-related felonies. Those pleas will be kept on hold and the charges dropped if they successfully complete the program. Each was placed on the program for an initial period of two years.
Five other people were in court for hearings on charges they violated terms of their community control. Three of those cases were continued for a full hearing.
Robert Belt Jr. was ordered held on a $100,000 as was James Comer. Travis Poland’s bond was set at $75,000.
Robert Fisher admitted to the charged violations. Fisher’s community control was extended to five years and he was ordered to be held at the county jail until he can be placed in an approved in-patient addiction treatment program.
Michael Weaver also admitted to the charges against him and was placed into the county’s drug court Medically Assisted Treatment program.