By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
A rural Bucyrus woman pleaded guilty to two felony charges Wednesday which led Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold to assess her life as “in somewhat of a mess right now.”
Forty-two-year-old Tanya Laferty pleaded guilty to felony 3 tampering with evidence and felony 5 drug possession. The judge sentenced Laferty to maximum terms on both charges, 36 and 12 months respectively, and ordered those sentences to be served consecutively for a total of 48 months.
Laferty previously served time in prison after being convicted in 2013 cases of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and drug possession.
“I think maybe some time in prison will help you straighten out the mess you’re in right now,” the judge told Laferty. “We need you to get your head straight while you’re in prison.”
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Richard Herzog changed his plea to guilty for felony 2 burglary. The 57-year-old Crestline man was sentenced to four years in prison, received a $2,000 fine and must pay $406.58 in restitution.
The judge assessed the case against 42-year-old Mark Skaggs of Ontario who was in court charged with violating his probation. Skaggs was sentenced to 36 months in prison following a 2015 conviction for felony DUI and granted judicial release after serving approximately six months of that sentence.
Skaggs was alleged to have violated his probation by consuming alcohol at a Super Bowl party and being charged with disorderly conduct.
Referencing his conversation earlier in the week with another defendant, the judge addressed Skaggs who was eligible to be returned to prison for the balance of the original 36-month sentence after he admitted to the violations as charged. Skaggs also admitted to having serious health issues that would likely be exacerbated by alcohol use.
“This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Leuthold told Skaggs after going over the facts. “Are you out of your mind?”
Rather than return Skaggs to prison, the judge sentenced him to continue on probation and to go to the Mansfield Volunteers of America halfway house for that treatment program.
“The VOA program in Mansfield, it’s not a fun place. If they boot you out of there, I’m going to boot you right to prison,” the judge told Skaggs. “You’ve used up your ‘get out of jail free’ cards. You’ve used them all up.”
Charles Edwards of Clyde was in court for an arraignment. Edwards has been indicted by the Crawford County Grand Jury for felony 4 improper handling of firearms.
Judge Leuthold gave Edwards a personal recognizance bond.