By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
The load of pending cases in Crawford County Common Pleas Court was lessened by six Tuesday afternoon with six plea agreements.
Half of those were sentenced to prison including 44-year-old Rudel Chatman. Chatman, however, was visibly not pleased with the outcome of his sentence.
“I know I have to go (to prison),” Chatman said explaining his reluctance. “It’s not my first rodeo.”
Chatman pleaded guilty to third-degree felony domestic violence and fifth-degree harassment by an inmate. Judge Sean Leuthold actually gave Chatman three options.
Chatman could withdraw his guilty plea and proceed to trial or accept one of two sentences offered by the County Prosecutor’s Office. The first offer was a flat 30 months in prison. The second was maximum consecutive sentences on each charge totaling 48 months with judicial release possible after serving 15 months if he stayed out of trouble while in prison.
Although Chatman did not like the uncertainty of the judicial release option that is the one he eventually chose. He was also fined $5,000.
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Fifty-one-year-old Stanley Paynter had been sentenced to 35 months in prison earlier on Tuesday in Hardin County on a probation violation. In the afternoon he pleaded guilty to two counts of fifth-degree drug trafficking in Crawford County and was sentenced to terms of eight and seven months on those two charges.
The judge made the Crawford County sentences consecutive to each other and to the Harding County sentence for a total of 50 months in prison.
“Mr. Paynter,” Leuthold said, “one of the things you don’t do in Crawford County is traffic in drugs.”
On the day before his 28th birthday, Christopher Bryant admitted to violating probation resulting from two previous felony convictions, breaking and entering in a 2012 case and possession of drugs in a 2013 case.
Bryant admitted he tested positive for marijuana, opiates and cocaine on Feb. 5. The judge sentenced him to consecutive eight-month prison terms for a total of 16 months. Bryant could have been sentenced to as long as 24 months.
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In other cases Caitlyn Lambright was sentenced to five years of community control and fined $1,000 following her guilty plea to fifth-degree receiving stolen property.
Lambright had actually served a prison sentence for another felony conviction in Crawford County and the new charge stemmed from an event prior to her going to prison but that prosecutors were not aware of until she was released.
In addition, Lambright is expected to plead to five felony counts in Richland County where the expected sentence is a community based correctional facility for addiction treatment.
The judge said he did not want to stand in the way of Richland County’s plans involving Lambright.
Regina Moore had a diversion revocation hearing in which she admitted to not paying restitution as ordered. She must still pay the balance of a total of $3,101 in restitution, but now has felony conviction for felony theft and will be on community control for five years.
Mikel Clair pleaded guilty to fifth-degree insurance fraud, but was placed on the diversion program for two years meaning his plea is being held and the case will be dismissed if he successfully competes diversion. Clair does not owe any restitution.
Nineteen-year-old Skyler Gearhart’s motion for judicial release from prison was granted by the judge. Gearhart served nine months of an 18-month sentence. The original charge of second-degree robbery was amended to fourth-degree aggravated assault.
“This is your chance to shape up, or you’ll be shipped out,” Leuthold said.
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