BUCYRUS — Christine Coleman of Crestline appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday for the purpose of pleading guilty to burglary. Coleman, 22, is charged with a fourth-degree felony punishable with up to 18 months in prison.
Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leüthold was prepared to approve a negotiated plea in the case. Coleman was set to receive a sentence of one year of community control and no contact with the victim in the case.
Leüthold began to explain the conditions of community control to Coleman as well as the charges.
“Are you pleading guilty to this charge because you are guilty, and you feel this plea is in your best interest?” Leüthold asked Coleman.
Coleman hesitated for some minutes to admit her guilt. As a result, Leuthold withdrew the plea offer and ordered the matter set for trial.
In other court action, Kristen Bailey, 45, of Bucyrus appeared via video from prison for a judicial release hearing. Bailey was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2013 for a series of burglaries.
Judge Russell Wiseman originally sentenced Bailey, with the possibility of judicial release after serving eight years in prison.
Leüthold noted that this crime spree of at least six burglaries had the community on edge in 2013.
Leüthold honored the ruling and granted the release. Along with all other conditions of community control, Leüthold ordered Bailey to pay more than $16,000 in restitution.
“Look, you’ve been in prison eight years,” Leüthold said. “If you don’t follow all the conditions of community control, I can send you back to prison to serve the other eight years.”
Bailey was ordered to quarantine at home for ten days upon her release from prison.
Clifford Peters, 42, of Marengo, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of drugs (fentanyl), a third-degree felony punishable with up to 36 months in prison.
In a plea agreement, Leüthold sentenced Peters to the maximum sentence with a possible judicial release in the future. Peters was given credit for all jail time served. He was ordered to forfeit all drug-related property to the Galion Police Department.