By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
When Kyle McClintock was sentenced to prison Monday afternoon, the prosecution and the judge could only shake their heads at the path that led the Galion man to that point.
“If Mr. McClintock was a cat and had seven lives, I think Mr. McClintock is on his fifth or sixth,” noted assistant prosecutor Ryan Hoovler. “(He’s) been in court way too much for OD-ing on heroin and opiates.”
Thirty-three-year-old McClintock, of Galion, pleaded guilty to a bill of information for possessing heroin, a fifth-degree felony. He was sentenced in Crawford County Common Pleas Court to nine months in prison and fined $1,250.
Despite the plea deal, Hoovler felt that McClintock was only extending his life by nine months and Judge Sean Leuthold appeared to agree.
“There’s no consumer protection act for selling heroin,” Leuthold said as he cautioned McClintock on drug dealers selling fentanyl-laced heroin.
The judge, who believed some of McClintock’s multiple drug overdoses may have been caused by heroin cut with fentanyl, argued that dealers did not care what happened to McClintock after he bought drugs from them.
“They are lying to you. They are selling you poison. They don’t care if you die,” Leuthold added. “You need to be locked up and kept away from heroin. I don’t want to pick up the paper and see Kyle McClintock died suddenly.”
McClintock avoided prison in January due to Ohio’s overdose law. He pleaded guilty to an amended charge of drug paraphernalia and received a 30-day county jail sentence.
Twenty-two-year-old Cody Urbine, of Bellevue, appeared in court for an initial community control violation hearing. Urbine allegedly failed to report to his supervising officer since Dec. 19 and tested positive for THC on a urinalysis.
Leuthold set bond at $100,000 and appointed Brian Gernert as Urbine’s attorney. Urbine, who pleaded guilty to felony 4 theft in September of 2016, has an 18-month prison sentence hanging over his head.
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