BUCYRUS — A Galion man appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday to plead guilty to one charge of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony punishable with up to 36 months in prison.
Kalvin Rinehart, 22, was sentenced to 36 months in prison. As part of a plea agreement, Rinehart will be offered judicial release soon.
Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold gave Rinehart a stern warning.
“Look, this is a good deal. You screw it up and you have a big hammer hanging over your head,” Leuthold said.
Rinehart was ordered to forfeit all property to the Galion Police Department and was taken into custody after the proceedings.
In other court action, Timothy Gulling, 60, of Galion is currently incarcerated at the Crawford County Justice Center for a probation violation which resulted in a new charge. He was being held on a $50,000 bond after he tested positive for drugs in his system.
Upon further investigation, it was determined that Gulling had submitted synthetic urine that still tested positive for drugs. The resulting new charge is tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony punishable with up to 36 months in prison.
Leuthold entered a not guilty plea on Gulling’s behalf. His bond was increased by another $50,000 for a total bond of $100,000. Attorney Sebastian Berger was appointed to represent Gulling.
Amber Bostic, 24, of Crestline pleaded guilty to one count of possession of identity fraud, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to 12 months in prison.
In a plea negotiation, Leuthold sentenced Bostic to five years of community control.
“Behave yourself. If you mess this up, you are going to prison,” Leuthold said.
Rebecca Kiess, 34, of Bucyrus pleaded guilty to two counts of breaking and entering, one count of receiving stolen property and one count of vandalism each fifth-degree felonies and each punishable with up to one year in prison.
In a plea agreement, Kiess will spend six months in prison on each of the four counts for a total of 24 months in prison. She will pay restitution in an amount to be determined.
In a rare move, Leuthold allowed Kiess to report for prison on Friday at 7 p.m.
“I don’t normally do this, so you’d better not get into any trouble or not show up,” Leuthold said. “The state will not look kindly on that and you would most likely receive new charges. Don’t mess it up.”
Randall Allen, 26, of Bucyrus pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony punishable with up to 36 months in prison and one count of possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to 12 months in prison.
Through a plea agreement, Leuthold sentenced Allen to nine months on each count for a total of 18 months in prison. Allen will receive 63 days of jail time credit.
Leuthold told Allen he would not oppose transitional control if the prison requested it. Allen was ordered to forfeit all drug-related property to the appropriate authorities.
William Keil, 28, of Galion was granted a two-week continuance to seek new counsel and is free on a personal recognizance bond. Keil was indicted in January on one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony punishable with up to 36 months in prison and one count of possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to 12 months in prison.
Leuthold appointed attorney Grant Garverick to represent Keil. He asked the court for a continuance to hire his own counsel. When asked if he had retained counsel, Kiel said he did not have enough money yet and needed more time. Leuthold agreed to give Keil two weeks to obtain and prove new counsel.
“I am not removing Mr. Garverick from your case because this case is moving forward,” Leuthold said. “I’ll give you two weeks to get your new counsel but if for some reason that doesn’t happen, I’m keeping Mr. Garverick on as your attorney.”