By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold played hardball Wednesday when it came to fentanyl and the people who use heroin laced with the dangerous additive.
Melissa Loyer faced the brunt of Leuthold’s anger when she pleaded guilty to two counts of felony drug possession and one count of misdemeanor drug paraphernalia. After Leuthold read her sentence into the record, which included 24 months in prison for the felonies and 45 days in the county jail for the misdemeanor, the judge ordered the facts of the case be put on record.
The 34-year-old Galion woman winced at Leuthold’s order.
“It’s important that you need to address what exactly happened,” Leuthold told her.
Assistant prosecutor Ryan Hoovler said the Bucyrus Police Department responded to a call at the Speedway gas station in response to a child left unattended in a car. When police arrived, Loyer was passed out in the car with a three-month-old child in the vehicle. Hoovler said two pieces of pills were found in the car and a syringe with liquid was found by EMTs. He added that Loyer admitted to using heroin.
“There’s a lot of mixed emotions,” Loyer admitted. “I’m ashamed of what I did . . . even one relapse – look at the damage I did.”
Though the judge approved of Loyer’s acceptance that quickly changed when he began questioning her about where she bought the heroin. Loyer hesitated over answering and eventually refused to tell Leuthold.
“That does not impress me,” Leuthold said, stressing each word before finally taking Loyer to task.
“There’s fentanyl in every piece of heroin in Crawford County right now,” Leuthold said angrily as he threw is glasses down. “You’re going to protect the person who sold you the poison and d— near killed you and your child.”
The judge pointed out that fentanyl can be absorbed through the skin, which put Loyer’s child, who was three months old at the time, in a potentially fatal situation.
“I am not going to let fentanyl come to this community,” Leuthold stated, adding that he would not let the drug kill children or harm the safety forces. “You want to mess around with fentanyl, you’re going to prison.”
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Forty-six-year-old Tia Crowden, of Bucyrus, also received the maximum penalties for her felonies. She pleaded guilty to two counts of drug possession, both fifth-degree felonies, and a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge. Crowden was sentenced to 12 months in prison on each felony count and 30 days in the county jail for the misdemeanor charge. She was also fined $1,250.
Margarita Loll pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in a case that Leuthold said resembled a comedy.
The 38-year-old Bucyrus woman was living with Steven McMillian when they decided to cultivate marijuana in their house. A fight one day resulted in Loll calling the police, which led the pair to tearing up the plants to try to hide them before the police arrived.
Loll was placed on community control for five years, though Leuthold said he would hang 24 months in prison over her head to keep her in line. He also ordered Loll to forfeit the drug-related property to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and to complete a drug and alcohol assessment.
McMillian, the co-defendant, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in May. A domestic violence and a cultivation of marijuana charge were dismissed as part of his guilty plea. He was also placed on probation.
Michael Wood, a 39-year-old Marion man and former police officer, was placed on the court’s intervention in lieu of conviction program after pleading guilty to improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, a fifth-degree felony. Leuthold indicated the incident involved alcohol and a gun.