BUCYRUS—Robert Skaggs, 46, currently incarcerated in the Crawford County Jail, appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday for a disposition hearing and sentencing on a community control violation.
Skaggs originally pleaded no contest when he was charged with possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to 12 months in prison. Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leüthold found Skaggs guilty and sentenced him to 12 months in jail with the possibility of judicial release after serving six months of the sentence. Skaggs appealed that conviction to the Court of Appeals. While on community control, Skaggs pleaded guilty in Crawford County Municipal Court to two counts of harassment by stalking and two counts of telecommunications harassment, all misdemeanor charges. Skaggs admitted to stalking his ex-girlfriend and placing a GPS tracking device in her vehicle without her knowledge.
Crawford County Municipal Court Judge Shane Leuthold sentenced Skaggs to six months in jail on each count for a total of 24 months in jail. Twelve months of the sentence was suspended.
The Municipal Court violations of the law occurred before Skaggs’ appeal on his Common Pleas Court conviction was resolved.
The Court Of Appeals agreed with the guilty finding of Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold.
In the meantime, Skaggs violated his community control by failing to appear in court, resulting in a warrant for his arrest. He left his supervising state of Kentucky without permission and failed to appear for office visits in Kentucky. When he was arrested in Bucyrus, he tried to flee from officers and, in addition, refused to take a drug test.
Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold recused himself from the case, and it fell onto the docket of visiting Judge Howard Hall.
The question before the court today was the issue of Skaggs’ sentencing on the community control violation and how it should be served.
Judge Leuthold sentenced Skaggs to 12 months in the Crawford County Jail for the community control violation with the possibility of judicial release after serving six months in jail. However, the sentence was put on hold until the Court of Appeals ruled on Skaggs’ appeal.
Judge Howard listened to arguments from Crawford County Prosecutor Matt Crall, defense attorney Andrew Motter, and Skaggs himself.
Motter told the court that the sentence given to his client should be considered fulfilled since he was in jail on the Municipal Court convictions. He told the court they had a broad jurisdiction in which they could rule the sentencing to run concurrently.
Crall reviewed a memorandum filed by Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Hoovler. Crall asserted that Skaggs was serving time on a misdemeanor that was unrelated to the community control violation in Common Pleas Court.
“There is a strong public policy argument that you shouldn’t get a free misdemeanor charge because you’ve been charged with a felony,” Crall said.
Skaggs himself told the court he had been a trustee at the jail for eight months and that he felt he’d served his time.
Judge Hall said that while he was sympathetic to Skaggs, it seemed he had been treated well in Common Pleas Court.
“Obeying community control is fairly simple..stay out of trouble and report when you’re supposed to report,” Hall said.
Hall said that Skaggs was on community control on the felony charges when he violated probation. This all occurred before the Municipal Court charges. He imposed Judge Leuthold’s 12-month jail sentence and issued Skaggs 24 days of jail time credit.
Skaggs will begin serving the Common Pleas Court sentence when the Municipal Court Sentence is completed.