BUCYRUS — A former Crestline man who went against the advice of his attorney is headed to prison after pleading guilty of violating the terms and conditions of his community control.
Louis Lulenski, 29, recently residing in Mansfield, appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday. In July 2019, Lulenski was placed on five years of community control after he pleaded guilty to felonious assault, a second-degree felony punishable with up to eight years in prison.
When Lulenski accepted the deal, he did so against the advice of his attorney, Sebastian Berger.
“I told Mr. Lulenski that I believe this case was overcharged. The victim in the case is not cooperating,” Berger said. “I wanted him to wait until we got further discovery on the case. I told him I was concerned that he would plead guilty to a felony. That felony could impede his ability to work and will follow him all his life. Community control is against my advice, but it is his decision.”
According to allegations by probation officer Eric Bohach, beginning in November, he failed to report his residence, place of employment and failed to report for scheduled office visits. Also, according to Bohach, between November and May, Lulenski attempted to communicate with the victim. Lulenski was given a drug test of May 22 and tested positive for amphetamines and fentanyl.
A reluctant Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold decided to go along with the recommended sentence.
“You have done nothing you were supposed to do, and you are lucky you are not getting more time,” Leuthold said.
Leuthold sentenced Lulenski to four years in prison with the possibility of judicial release after he serves half of the sentence.
In other court action, Robert Rogers, 83, of Bucyrus pleaded guilty to improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony punishable with up to 18 months in prison.
Leuthold sentenced Rogers to one year of community control. He must forfeit the handgun and ammunition.
Kylar Blake, 22, of Mt. Gilead appeared in court to answer to charges she violated the terms and conditions of her community control. Blake pleaded guilty in 2019 to one count of possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to one year in prison.
According to allegations by probation officer Chris Heydinger, Blake failed to appear for her initial probation appointment in January and was just recently apprehended. Blake also submitted to a urine drug screen on June 6, which tested positive for amphetamines, meth, and fentanyl.
Blake pleaded guilty to the violations. In a plea negotiation, Leuthold sentenced Blake to a flat six months in prison.
“It’s kind of hard to help you when you don’t show up,” Leuthold said. “You keep this up and you’re going to end up in prison for a much longer time or dead.”
Leuthold added that he would not oppose transitional control if the prison requested it.