By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold couldn’t keep the disdain out of his voice when sentencing a 50-year-old Galion man on Monday.
He didn’t try.
Johnny Kay Seitz pleaded guilty to third-degree felony illegal conveyance into a detention facility and was sentenced to the maximum time in prison of 36 months. Seitz was also fined $3,000.
Seitz was serving a county jail sentence for misdemeanor vehicular homicide and granted work release when he was caught trying to smuggle drugs back into the facility on his return.
“I would think a person who is incarcerated for taking the life of another person would be doing a little soul searching,” Leuthold said. “Instead Mr. Seitz showed no remorse because he committed another crime while in the Crawford County jail.”
Seitz was the driver of a dump truck on Sept. 29, 2014, that went left of center on Ohio 598 and struck a vehicle driven by 23-year-old Ethan Stevens of Plymouth. Stephens died several days later as a result of his injuries. He was home on leave from the United States Marines and returning to Camp LeJune in North Carolina.
Noting that Seitz’s act of smuggling drugs into the jail was a violation of the trust placed in him by authorities, the judge added, “I think a maximum sentence is appropriate. I think there is a zero-percent chance this defendant will be rehabilitated.”
But the judge wasn’t done with Seitz. “If I were you, I would do some soul searching. When I got out of prison I’d do nothing but good to make up for what I had done.”
For his part, when given the opportunity to speak prior to being sentenced on the conveyance charge, Seitz simply said, “I’m sorry.”
Although the judge did fine Seitz, he ordered that any such payments made by Seitz would go directly to Stephens’ family.
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Two men, Dillon Miller and Ryan Mason, were sentenced to consecutive 12-month sentences for a total 24 months in prison.
Miller pleaded guilty to new charges of possession of drugs and tampering with evidence as well as violating community control on an existing case from 2014. Miller was also sentenced to six months in prison for violating probation. That prison term is to run concurrently with those he is serving on the new charges.
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Mason pleaded guilty to telecommunications fraud and drug possession, both fifth-degree felonies.
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Tina Rotermund pleaded guilty to felony five drug possession. The recommended sentence from the County Prosecutor’s Office is five years of community control, treatment for addiction and a $1,250 fine. When ordering a pre-sentence investigation, the judge told Rotermund he wanted to place her on the court’s Intensive Supervision and Treatment Program as well. Rotermund’s bond was continued until formal sentencing.