By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
It was a quick turnaround for Heather Hunt as she went from being arrested to being charged with probation violations to being sentenced to prison within a span of four days.
Twenty-six-year-old Hunt appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court a day after denying allegations that she violated her probation. By Friday, however, Hunt admitted to possessing a schedule II controlled substance on Jan. 19. She refused to submit to a requested drug screen and was discovered with 75 doses of heroin at the Crawford County Justice Center on Jan. 20, both violations that she admitted to.
Hunt, who had been on community control after being convicted of drug possession in 2010 and 2012, received 12 months on each case for a total of 24 months in prison. She will be credited for time already spent in the county jail and a community-based correctional facility.
An additional 36 months was tacked on to the two-year sentence after Hunt pleaded guilty to a bill of information on a new charge of drug possession. She possessed between 55 and 75 doses of heroin, thus making the crime a third-degree felony. In addition to the 36-month prison sentence, Hunt was fined $5,000 and had her driver’s license suspended for six months.
Judge Sean Leuthold said she could possibly file for judicial release after serving six months on the felony three charge, though she must first serve two years for the probation violations.
The new charge and the probation violation sentences will be served consecutively to each other for a total of five years.
“You’ve been given a couple of opportunities to turn your life around,” Leuthold said. “You haven’t done that.”
Leuthold then referenced Hunt being linked to Erin Lewis’ suppression hearing, where it was alleged that she and Lewis traveled to Columbus to purchase heroin that would later be sold in Bucyrus.
“To a certain degree, you lucked out because you didn’t get caught in that,” Leuthold said. “Everyone knows you’re involved in drugs in Crawford County.”
Leuthold acknowledged that he didn’t take those accusations into consideration when reviewing her sentence but he recommended that she stay away from dealing and using drugs.
“You don’t want to wake up and be 45, 46, 47 years old and realize you spent half your life in prison,” Leuthold said.
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Paul Villavicencio also pleaded guilty to a bill of information for drug possession.
Leuthold noted that during Villavicencio’s overdose, responders had to administer Naloxone twice to revive him.
“I’m not going to yell at you, give you a big speech. You damn near killed yourself,” Leuthold said. “I don’t know if there’s anything I can say to change your mind if that didn’t.”
Leuthold sentenced Villavicencio to seven months in prison, fined him $1,250, and ordered his driver’s license to be suspended for six months.
Villavicencio also admitted to violating his community control. He acknowledged that he take used heroin and possessed drug paraphernalia on Jan. 17 and refused to submit to a drug test on Jan. 19.
Leuthold sentenced Villavicencio to seven months in prison for the probation violations, which will be served concurrently to the bill of information for a total of 14 months.
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