By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Three people pleaded guilty to drug-related offenses in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday morning and all three of them were sentenced to prison. Two of them told Judge Sean Leuthold that is where they needed to go.
The first, however, was obviously very reluctant to see his plea arrangement carried through to the conclusion. Forty-one-year-old Jeremy Lewis pleaded guilty to felony 3 failure to comply and felony 5 drug possession.
Lewis was sentenced to concurrent sentences of 18 months and 12 months, respectively. His attorney, Adam Stone said his client plans to file a motion at the appropriate time seeking judicial release.
“I apologize for my actions in this community,” Lewis said. Addressing his obvious reluctance, he added, “I don’t feel I’m guilty of what I’m charged with.”
Judge Sean Leuthold, on more than one occasion, gave Lewis the opportunity to forgo his guilty plea and proceed with a trial. The last time came when Lewis referenced his previous criminal record and alluded to that influencing what charges were brought against him.
When the judge gave him another opportunity to withdraw his plea, Lewis said, “No sir, I’m ready to get it over with.”
The judge noted the light sentence on the charge of failure to comply.
“This was not a high-speed chase. The overall facts don’t cry for consecutive sentences and there’s no victim in this case.”
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Thirty-one-year-old Leona Hoopingarner pleaded guilty to felony 5 drug possession and 
because her previous felony record was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
However, Hoopingarner quickly acknowledged she had a problem, even though she claimed nearly three years of sobriety prior to being arrested.
“My addiction has taken me places I never wanted to go,” Hoopingarner said.
Leuthold spent some time talking with Hoopingarner about her recovery and plans for sobriety both in and out of prison. He was obviously impressed with the answers the Summit County resident gave.
“We have helped a lot of people in the community by putting them in prison,” the judge said, and cited Hoopingarner as one who understood the best place for at the moment is in prison to get a good start on sobriety prior to being involved in a recovery program.
Turing his attention to Hoopingarner, the judge encouraged her to write him a letter, a step he acknowledged is a bit unusual. “After you get out of prison, if you are doing well I’d like to hear about it.”
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Likewise, 45-year-old David Franklin admitted it was in his best interest to go to prison. Franklin admitted to numerous violations of the terms of his community control, including a positive drug test. Franklin was convicted of felony 5 drug possession in a 2013 case.
Franklin was sentenced to eight months in prison.