By Kathy Laird
CCN Correspondent
BUCYRUS — Dustin Potter drew the ire of Crawford County Judge Sean Leuthold when Potter pleaded guilty to one count of possession of drugs and one count of violating the terms and conditions of his community control.
Potter had to be revived with the Narcan shot after he overdosed in a vehicle and crashed it. His toddler daughter was a passenger in the car. Potter was ordered to spend the next two years in prison.
When asked if he had anything to say prior to his sentencing, Potter told the court he had nothing to say.
“I have plenty to say to you,” Leuthold replied. “We just lost a man to a drug overdose in this town and there was a child in the vicinity of where this occurred. You and I had long talks about this at least a dozen times. You talked about how terrible it was and then you go out and do something worse. You overdose and leave your child in the road. For the love of Christ, what were you thinking?”
Noting he’d done a lot of soul searching on this sentence, Leuthold told Potter, “My first instinct was to send your ass to prison and forget about you. You took all the work, all the mentoring and burnt it all to the ground. I think you are a dirty, horrible, rotten human being who exposed your child to the unthinkable. Any friendship you thought we may have built with me, any consideration Mr. Alspach gave you to aid you, any back-slapping at the YMCA is over. You are at less than square one with me, you are at ground zero.”
Leuthold told Potter that when he comes out of prison he will follow every single instruction he is given by the court with no exceptions.
“You’ll do whatever the hell I tell you to do, and if you don’t I will send your ass back prison,” Leuthold said.
In other court proceedings, Natasha Stidham, 37, of New Washington was sentenced to twelve months in prison Monday in the Crawford County Common Pleas Court. Stidham pleaded guilty to one count of possession of drugs.
Before announcing the sentence, Leuthold gave Stidham an opportunity to speak.
She told Leuthold that she had sent him a letter, but was not sure if he received it. Through tears she explained to the court that she had not had trouble in the last 12 years.
“I will make you proud of me if I am granted Judicial Release. I won’t make your county look bad,” Stidham said.
Leuthold noted that he would decide if she would receive judicial release at a later date.
“You were driving around with Xanax, meth and Suboxone all over your car,” Leuthold said. “This is your chance to re-correct your life. If I let you out, we will see how well you do. If not, I’ll send you right back to prison.”
Twenty-six-year-old Matthew Maag of Galion will spend the next 30 months in prison. Maag pleaded guilty to one count of conveying an illegal substance into a correctional facility.
Maag admitted to taking marijuana into the Crawford County Justice Center. Maag will receive credit for time served and was ordered to turn all drug-related property over to the Crawford County Sherriff’s Department.