By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold had two messages for a 25-year-old woman in front of him for violating probation. And both were delivered in a tone of voice that indicated he was frustrated with the illegal drug issue in Crawford County.
“I’m not moved by your tears,” Leuthold told 25-year-old Harlie Witten. “The reason that I’m not is that I’m not doing anything bad.”
Witten was in court as a result of allegations she had violated the terms of her probation by being found in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and two days later tested positive for both marijuana and cocaine.
Witten, who was on probation for a 2015 conviction for cocaine possession, admitted to both charges. It was also revealed in court that a man whose full name Witten did not know had been allowed to stay at her house and had to be revived from a heroin overdose.
Turning his attention to Witten’s family as well as the defendant herself, the judge raised his voice to another level in both timbre and volume.
“They’re going to be chalking her (Witten) and you’re going to be writing her obituary saying what a wonderful girl she was,” the judge said. “The bottom line is she’s dead. I’m tired of seeing young people throw their lives away and I’m the bad guy.”
The judge sentenced Witten to 12 months in prison, but instructed her attorney, Adam Stone, to file a motion for release after she had served 60 days. He asked Witten, who had been arrested in Shelby, where she would live when she was released.
When Witten told him with her mother in Bucyrus, Leuthold told her emphatically to stay away from Shelby – emphasizing that he was not insulting the people of Shelby, but very keenly aware of the severity of the heroin problem there.
Leuthold had one last word before Witten left the courtroom: “You’re going to live by my rules or you’re going back to prison.”
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Twenty-four-year-old Dehlen Hyden pleaded guilty to fifth-degree breaking and entering. That charge was amended down from the original one of second-degree burglary.
Assistant Prosecutor Rob Kidd recommended a sentence of five years on community control, a $1,250 fine and restitution to the victims in the amount of $100.
Leuthold released Hyden on a personal recognizance bond prior to sentencing following completion of a pre-sentence investigation.
Tonya Evans was arraigned on a charge of fifth-degree identity fraud. Pointing out that Evans is already on felony probation from a previous case, the judge quickly took note of Evans testing positive for cocaine prior to Thursday’s hearing.
Leuthold set her bond at $150,000 and appointed Adam Stone to represent her.
Also in court for initial hearings for community control violations were Crystal Minamyer, Leigh Anne Lovely, Sean Hazelton, Dillan Miller, Samuel Bowersox and Jamie Hall. Hall also faces a new charge of drug possession stemming from a drug bust a home on King Road.
All six were appointed attorneys and had bonds set at $150,000 while their cases were continued.
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