BUCYRUS — Seth Shire of Mansfield appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday to plead guilty to violating the terms and conditions of his community control.
Shire was accused of receiving a DUI charge in Mansfield and being in possession of drug abuse instruments. He made a general admission of violating the terms and conditions of his community control because of pending litigation in Mansfield. Shire appeared in court with his court appointed attorney, Geoff Stoll.
Shire, 48, was sentenced to prison for 24 months in April 2018 and granted judicial release in July 2018. Shire pleaded guilty on two counts of possession of drugs, each a fifth-degree felony and each punishable with up to 12 months in prison.
Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold reimposed prison on the first count of the original sentence and continued community control on the second count. When released from prison, Shire will return to five years of community control.
Shire will receive credit for jail time served and was given a report date of November 4 to turn himself into the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department for transport to prison.
In other court action, Caleb Bowersock, 23, of Bucyrus was placed on five years of community control after he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to 12 months in prison. Bowersock was not prison eligible and was represented by court-appointed attorney Brian Gernert.
Brandon Tuttle, 22, of Willard failed to appear in for a hearing to argue sentencing after he pleaded guilty to one count of theft, a third-degree felony.
Gernert, the court-appointed attorney for Tuttle, told the court he had attempted to contact his client and was actively trying to get in touch with him prior to court. Leuthold told Gernert that if Tuttle showed before he signed a warrant, he would not hold it against his client. The warrant was scheduled to be signed at the conclusion of the court day.
Andrew Jackson, 22, of Crestline will spend the next nine months in the Crawford County Justice Center. Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, a fourth-degree felony punishable with up to 18 months in prison.
Jackson had been housed at the Crawford County Justice center for the last four-and-a-half months. Jackson will pay restitution in an amount to be determined. Jackson was represented by court-appointed attorney Brad Starkey.
Shaun Arthur, 36, of Galion better known as one of the “Galion Grinches” found himself back in front of Leuthold on a community control violation.
Arthur was on judicial release and placed on community control after he pleaded guilty to four counts of theft, all fifth-degree felonies punishable with up to 12 months in prison on each count. He pleaded guilty to theft of railroad ties, two sets of Christmas decorations, theft of a ceramic frog and criminal trespass, a fourth-degree misdemeanor. Arthur was sentenced to 24 months in prison in December and granted judicial release on July 19.
According to probation officer, Mark Alspach, Arthur was found in possession of meth and drug paraphernalia in Galion on September 6. On that same day he admitted to using meth.
“You have got to stop doing this stuff. We both know what is going on here. I think I told you this once before,” Leuthold said. “The people of Galion take pride in their homes and yards to beautify their neighborhoods. I take that very seriously. They don’t need to worry about people like you stealing their stuff. They don’t need to be bothered by you.”
Leuthold reimposed the original 24-month prison sentence. In exchange for his guilty plea, the state will not pursue new charges in the latest violation.
“When you get out of prison behave yourself. If you bother people again, you’re going to go right back to prison,” Leuthold said.
Chet Mullins, 50, most recently of the Mansfield Correctional Institute found himself back in front of Leuthold for community control violations charges after being released from prison on judicial release in August.
Mullins was originally sentenced to 36 months in prison for three counts of permitting drug abuse. According to probation officer Chris Heydinger, Mullins failed to appear for office visits beginning September 3 and took a urine drug test on September 4 that came back positive for amphetamines, cocaine, fentanyl and several other drugs.
Before sentencing Mullins, Leuthold asked for comments from the state and defense.
Assistant prosecutor Ryan Hoovler told the court, “The state is tired of dealing with Mr. Mullins. He has only been out of prison two weeks. He has to understand that he must stop using drugs.”
Court-appointed defense attorney Tom Nicholson told the court that Mullins’ new drug use was caused by the death of his daughter.
“This looks more like a suicide attempt than drug use,” Nicholson said.
Leuthold reimposed the 36-month prison sentence and Mullins will receive credit for jail time served. Leuthold said he would not oppose transition control if the prison requested it.
Theodore Miller, 36, of Bucyrus appeared to plead guilty to violating the terms and conditions of his community control. Miller was placed on community control in June after he pleaded guilty to possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to 12 months in prison.
According to probation officer Heydinger, Miller failed to appear for an ISAT meeting on September 3. He tested positive for meth, methamphetamines and fentanyl on September 5.
Leuthold sentenced Miller to 12 months in prison. Miller will be eligible for judicial release into a treatment program in the future.