By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

Transporting defendants to prison from Crawford Common Pleas Court was a busy job on Wednesday.

Frankie Phipps was sentenced to a total of 24 months in prison. The 31-year-old Galion man pleaded guilty to an amended third-degree felony burglary charge and admitted to violating his intervention in lieu of conviction program on a previous breaking and entering case.

Phipps was sentenced to 18 months in prison with jail time credit of 68 days on the burglary charge and six months in prison on the breaking and entering case with 131 days of credit. The sentences will be served consecutively for a total of 24 months. Phipps must also pay a $1,250 fine on the burglary case. His intervention was revoked.

Phipps admitted to trespassing in an occupied structure at 321 W. Church St. in Galion with the purpose to commit a theft offense. He violated his intervention program when he committed this offense and also for failing to participate in a court-ordered drug and alcohol program.

Thirty-four-year-old James Allonas of Bucyrus was sentenced to the remainder of his 36-month prison sentence after he admitted to violating his community control.

Allonas had served six months of his 36-month prison sentence in 2012 after pleading guilty to illegally cultivating marijuana, a third-degree felony. While in court Wednesday Allonas admitted to failing to comply with his follow up treatment, changing his address without permission, failing to report to office visits, and admitting that his drug test was positive for numerous drugs. He will receive jail time credit and credit for time he spent in a community-based correctional facility.

Jason Wade pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony possession of drugs while two counts of fifth-degree felony drug possession were dismissed. The 43-year-old Galion man admitted to possessing Fentanyl in excess of the bulk amount on Nov. 8. He was sentenced to 24 months in prison with credit for 152 days served in jail. His driver’s license was suspended for six months. He must also pay a $5,000 mandatory drug fine and forfeit and drug related property held by law enforcement to the Galion Police Department.

Forty-nine-year-old Jill Lineweaver of Cleveland will be getting a little extra time to avoid a felony conviction. Lineweaver was placed on the court’s diversion program for two years with the stipulation that she must pay $4,500 in restitution to Roger Hetzel. As part of the program, Lineweaver entered a guilty plea to passing bad checks, which will be held until she successfully completes the diversion program.

Twenty-two-year-old Nicholas McIntyre of Bucyrus appeared in court for an initial hearing on his community control violations. McIntyre had pleaded guilty to drug possession in December and was placed on community control for five years.

McIntyre’s allegedly failed to report to office visits on Dec. 29 and 31, possessed heroin on Jan. 18, and refused to submit to a drug test on Jan. 20.

Judge Wiseman appointed Geoffrey Stoll as McIntyre’s attorney and set bond at $50,000.

A change of attorney was in order for Kenan Neal. The 32-year-old Crestline man is currently being held in jail on charges of first-degree felony drug possession. Neal had been arrested in November following a police search of a residence in Crestline. Officers seized cocaine and a hand gun reported stolen from Bucyrus. Phipps had a $1 million bond set in Municipal Court.

Things became sticky, however, when a conflict with attorneys turned into a bigger issue. Neal had been represented by attorney Rolf Whitney while his father, Robert Whitney, had been representing Neal’s co-defendant. Though the conflict was known at the time of Rolf Whitney taking the case, the issue didn’t come to a head until Neal’s co-defendant declined to sign a waiver pertaining to the conflict.

Judge Wiseman appointed Mansfield attorney Jerry Thompson to the case and the jury trial originally scheduled for Thursday has been continued.