By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Multiple new felonies and a lengthy record combined to send a Crestline man to prison for a dozen years.
Twenty-nine-year-old Matthew Cobb pleaded guilty in Crawford County Common Pleas Court Wednesday afternoon to seven new counts with consecutive sentences that combined for 12 years in prison. He entered guilty pleas to felony 2 illegal manufacture of drugs (six years), felony 3 illegal assembly or possession of chemicals to manufacture drugs (18 months), felony 3 having weapons under disability (18 months), felony 3 tampering with evidence (18 months), felony 5 vandalism (six months), and two counts of felony 5 drug possession (six months each).
Upon his release from prison, Cobb would be subject to a mandatory three years on post-release control. He was fined $7,500, was ordered to pay $500 in restitution to the Crestline Police Department, and had his driver’s license suspended for six months. Cobb must also forfeit drug-related property seized to the Crestline Police Department, including nearly one dozen firearms. Cash seized during Cobb’s arrest, $2,722, will be forfeited to the police department and the prosecutor’s office.
“This shows a pattern of criminal behavior and it’s necessary to have consecutive sentences to protect the public,” stated Judge Sean Leuthold.
Cobb’s record included stints in prison dating back to 2006 and ranging from trafficking in drugs to receiving stolen property, theft, and drug possession.
“The guy who is sitting in front of me right now is not the same that committed these crimes,” Leuthold conceded. Noting how emotional Cobb had become, Leuthold said the other guy was a “maniac.”
“The answer to the problems is pretty simple,” Leuthold told Cobb. “You have to stay clean.”
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