BUCYRUS — A Galion woman was taken into custody when she appeared for a scheduled pretrial on Wednesday in Crawford County Common Pleas Court.
Stacy Tyler, 36, of Galion was present for a pretrial hearing regarding her ongoing criminal case. Tyler is charged with obstructing justice, a third-degree felony punishable with up to three years in prison.
According to allegations, Tyler harbored a criminal in Galion and lied to police. The defendant then escaped. The man was arrested and charged with escape in addition to his original charges. He was given a medical furlough and did not return to jail.
As is routine in ongoing criminal cases, defendants are given a drug test before appearing before Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold. Tyler tested positive for meth and marijuana in that drug screen.
Leuthold ordered Tyler taken into custody and bond was set at $75,000. Attorney Sebastian Berger was appointed to continue to represent Tyler.
In other court action, Seth Horsley, 27, of Bucyrus appeared via video from the Crawford County Justice center to answer to charges he violated the terms and conditions of his community control. Horsley was placed on community control after he pleaded guilty to two counts of complicity, each second-degree felonies and each punishable with up to eight years in prison.
According to probation officer Chris Heydinger, Horsley refused to take a drug test on July 7. Leuthold ordered the matter set for a full hearing. Bond was set at $50,000. Attorney Jerry Thompson was appointed to represent Horsley.
William Bauer, 44, formerly of Lorain, was also charged with a community control violation via video. Bauer was sentenced to two years in prison in August 2019 after he pleaded guilty to two counts of drug possession, each fifth-degree felonies and each punishable with up to one year in prison. He was granted judicial release from prison in February.
According to probation officer Chris Heydinger, Bauer tested positive for fentanyl during a drug screen on July 7. Leuthold ordered the matter set for a full hearing and bond was set at $50,000. Attorney Geoff Stoll was appointed to represent Bauer.
Chase Penwell, 29, currently housed at the Belmont Correctional Institution appeared via video on a motion for judicial release.
In 2012, Penwell pleaded guilty to two counts of gross sexual imposition, each third-degree felonies and each punishable with up to five years in prison. The victim was the daughter of his girlfriend who was also charged in the case.
The case was prosecuted by then prosecutor Cliff Murphy and the case was presided over by then Common Pleas Court Judge Russell Wiseman. In a plea negotiation, Wiseman sentenced Penwell to 10 years in prison with a promised judicial release after serving eight years. He was also ordered to register as a Tier II sex offender.
Both Leuthold and Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Hoovler were not pleased with the deal. However, Leuthold told Penwell he would honor the former judge’s ruling.
“I sure as hell would not have given you this deal and this prosecutor would not have agreed to it either,” Leuthold said. “I’m gonna honor this one but I’m not going to like it.”
Victim’s Advocate James Scott told the court the victim had been made aware of Penwell’s pending judicial release.
“I’m not going to tolerate any slip ups from you. The number one rule is no contact with the victim,” Leuthold said. “If I find out you have done so much as to search out her name on the internet or you search her out on social media, I’m going to consider that a violation and I will reimpose the ten-year prison sentence. Do you understand?”
Penwell told the court he had plans to live in Columbus upon his release.
“I don’t care where you live, you are still going to be under my jurisdiction,” Leuthold said. “If we transfer you to Columbus down the road, you still aren’t getting away from me.”