By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
The woman mysteriously referred to as “Big Mama” in the Kenan Neal trial in July had her day in court Thursday and pleaded guilty to trafficking and drug possession.
Thirty-nine-year-old Andrea Gullett had been arrested by police after law enforcement executed a search warrant at her Galion Arms apartment last week. Just over a week later she was in Crawford County Common Pleas Court to plead guilty to a bill of information on charges of third-degree drug trafficking and fifth-degree drug possession.
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Assistant prosecutor Ryan Hoovler stated that Gullett was a well-known drug dealer in Galion known by the names “Big Mama” or “Mama.” He noted that Kenan Neal referenced “Big Mama” in his trial testimony as the Galion dealer where he obtained stolen firearms.
When officers executed the search warrant on Aug. 19, Hoovler said, Gullett waived her Miranda rights and admitted to extensive selling of cocaine. Hoovler noted they also have information where Gullett orchestrated three buys, including two of which were in the vicinity of a juvenile.
Though Gullett does not have a prior felony record, Hoovler still asked for the maximum penalty in the case.
Grant Garverick, Gullet’s attorney, said she had been trying to help out the children in the community but purchasing clothes and even cooperated with police.
“I accepted what I did was wrong,” Gullett said as she sat at the defendant’s table. Though she spoke softly when answering Judge Sean Leuthold’s questions, she seemed to gain conviction as she defended the changes she made recently in her life.
“I didn’t want to be this person anymore,” Gullett said. “There is a picture painted of me in this community . . . I am not the bad person. I know what I did was wrong.”
Gullett pleaded with Leuthold for a reduced sentenced but the judge reminded Gullett that this was not the county to be messing with drugs.
“You say you were trying to change your life. You’ve been selling drugs a long time. Cocaine and heroin are destroying our community,” Leuthold said. “You don’t get to do terrible things and make up for them by doing a few good things.”
Leuthold sentenced Gullett to the maximum prison sentence she could receive: 36 months for trafficking in drugs and 12 months for drug possession. The two sentences will be served consecutively for a total of 48 months.
After reminding Gullett of the 10-year prison sentence he handed down to Kenan Neal for his crimes, Leuthold told Gullett that she should consider herself fortunate.
Gullett had her driver’s license suspended for six months and must pay a $5,000 mandatory fine. She was ordered to forfeit drug-related property to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office along with $561 in cash, two TVs, and a cell phone, all of which had been related to drug trafficking.
Twenty-seven-year-old Lynnae Stewart of Bucyrus pleaded guilty to burglary, a second-degree felony.
When Judge Leuthold asked for facts in the case, assistant prosecutor Hoovler said Stewart had been an employee at an assisted living retirement center where the victim in the case lived. Stewart was given authority to go into residents’ rooms to take out the trash and other housekeeping details. During the time she was employed there, Stewart made friends with the victim in the case and stole prescription medication from the victim while they were out of the room. Stewart also entered the room when she wasn’t working and when she didn’t have the authority to be in there.
“There’s no violence, there’s no threat of violence but still – you took advantage of an elderly person to feed your addiction,” Leuthold said.
Because there was not any violence in the crime and the victim was in agreement with the lesser sentence, Leuthold agreed to forgo the higher end of the possible maximum eight-year sentence and ordered Stewart to serve four years in prison. Stewart must also pay a $1,000 fine and serve a mandatory three years on post release control after her prison sentence.
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Steven Russell of Bucyrus pleaded guilty to drug possession Thursday afternoon. The 62-year-old man was sentenced to six months in prison and had his driver’s license suspended for six months. Russell must pay a $1,250 fine and forfeit drug-related property to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office.
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Twenty-one-year-old Tyler Danner of McCutchenville tried to convince Judge Leuthold that he was finally on the right path but Leuthold told Danner to try that line again on the judge when Danner hits the two-year sobriety mark.
Danner pleaded guilty to drug possession nearly a month ago and finally had his sentencing hearing Thursday.
“He is living proof there is life after heroin,” remarked Jaceda Blazef, Danner’s attorney.
Danner thanked the judge and the court system for helping him out.
“Without it I’d more than likely be dead,” Danner said. “I obviously made a dumb mistake . . . I deserved to be punished for it.”
Danner admitted to being sober for four months now but Judge Leuthold, however, wasn’t so quick to jump on that bandwagon.
“Big deal,” Leuthold said. “It doesn’t prove anything. Don’t be self-satisfied, don’t be smug, don’t be cocky.”
“I’m not going to stand up and clap for you,” he said. Rather, Leuthold recommended that Danner be self-satisfied when he had been sober for two years instead of four months.
Leuthold ordered Danner to be placed on community control for five years and to enter into a drug and alcohol treatment program approved by the Adult Parole Authority. Danner must also pay a $1,250 mandatory fine, forfeit drug-related items to the Crestline Police Department, and his driver’s license was suspended for six months.
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Twenty-eight-year-old Nathan Tolle of Galion was sentenced to five years on community control. Tolle pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property in July. He must also pay $200 in restitution to First Federal Bank of Ohio in Galion, $139 to Walgreens in Mansfield, and $224 to Moto Mart in Galion.
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Dalton Carroll-Ward was sentenced to five years on community control after pleading guilty to drug possession two weeks ago. The 20-year-old Bucyrus man was ordered to enter into a drug and alcohol treatment program, pay a $1,250 fine, and forfeit drug-related property to the Crestline Police Department. He also had his driver’s license suspended for six months.
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