BUCYRUS — The felony case against a Galion woman that stemmed from a case involving a former Crawford County corrections officer was dismissed in Crawford County Common Pleas Court recently.
Brittany Miller, 28, faced two felony charges, bribery, a third-degree felony punishable with up to three years in prison and one count of theft, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to one year in prison.
Miller was charged in connection with the Jason Tupps case. Tupps, a former corrections officer with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department was accused of holding a motorist at gunpoint in July 2018 and threatening to shoot her. The incident led to multiple charges against Tupps including improper handling of a firearm, abduction, driving under the influence of alcohol, using weapons while intoxicated, aggravated menacing, and assured clear distance. He was acquitted of six of the seven counts by a jury.
According to special prosecutor on the case, Margaret Tomaro of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Miller conspired with Megan Futchi to extort money from the Tupps family. Futchi admitted to the charges and took a plea in the case. The women were accused of plotting to gain information against Galion Police Officers involved in the Tupps arrest.
Even though Futchi was declared a hostile witness in the case she testified that Miller never received money from the Tupps family. She testified Miller provided her with a ride to the Tupps home. The two women connected over social media.
Futchi traveled from Cleveland with a plan to bring women to Galion to socialize with officers and gain incriminating information against them. At the time, Futchi was a consultant to the original attorney in the case, Adam Stone. Stone also fathered children with both Miller and Futchi. Stone recused himself from the case and James Mayer III of Mansfield took over the defense.
Miller’s attorney, Joel Spitzer, advised his client to withdraw from the plea offer after the Tupps verdict. After months of negotiations, and the resignation of visiting Judge Robert Pollex, a new visiting Judge, Howard Hall, was assigned the case.
In a final pre-trial held on December 21, the Ohio Attorney General’s special prosecutor, Margaret Tomaro, agreed to dismiss the charges against Miller without prejudice.
Crawford County Now attempted to contact Ms. Tomaro for a comment. Steve Irwin, a representative for the Attorney General’s Office said they had no further comment other than what had been filed in the case. Spitzer told Crawford County Now, “We are happy with the result and the diligence of all parties to bring this matter to a close.”