By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
A Crestline man went in to Crawford County Common Pleas Court facing a third-degree felony Monday and left with a first-degree felony. Twenty-year-old Seth Borden had originally been scheduled for a hearing on counsel for a third-degree felony charge but an arraignment had been tacked on to Monday’s agenda.
Borden didn’t believe his court-appointed attorney, Russell Long, was working to the best of his ability on Borden’s case and the Crestline man chose to hire a new attorney.
Judge Russell Wiseman warned Borden that his case was scheduled to go to trial in 10 days and the attorney may not be prepared for it. Borden understood the situation and told Wiseman that he would still like to hire a new attorney for the third-degree trafficking in drugs charge.
Borden was also arraigned on a first-degree trafficking in drugs charge. He could face a maximum penalty of 11 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, with $10,000 of that being a mandatory drug fine.
Assistant prosecuting attorney Ryan Hoovler explained to Wiseman that, due to the fact the indictments were based on the same facts, the first-degree case and the third-degree case will be consolidated for Borden’s trial. Hoovler said they plan on dismissing the third-degree felony case and continuing to pursue the first-degree felony charge.
Wiseman set bond for the first-degree felony case at $250,000.