Two headed to prison, another to trial and one comes home

By Krystal Smalley and Gary Ogle
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com; gogle@wbcowqel.com

It was a real mixed bag in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday.But when it was all said and done two defendants were headed to prison, another to trial and one came home.

Ernest Black was sentenced to prison after admitting to his community control violations. The 48-year-old Galion man, who had been on community control since pleading guilty to breaking and entering in February, admitted to using and testing positive for marijuana on May 8 and attempting to cause physical harm to another on April 26. Black was sentenced to six months in prison.

Charles Bond of Kentucky will also go to prison after he pleaded no contest while being arraigned on a charge of felony 5 breaking and entering. Bond was accused of taking tools and equipment.

Bond was sentenced by Judge Russell Wiseman of to eight months in prison. He will also be required to pay any restitution deemed necessary by the Crawford County Prosecutor’s Office once the case against his co-defendant, Robert Byrne Jr., is adjudicated.

A four-year prison sentence had been awaiting 33-year-old Samantha Matney of Galion Monday afternoon but a change of mind led her to withdraw her guilty plea. At the start of her hearing, Matney agreed to plead guilty to two felony five counts of misuse of a credit card and admit to her community control violations in a previous theft case.

After correcting the number of days Matney would receive as jail time credit, Judge Russell Wiseman attempted to continue with her sentencing. When he questioned assistant prosecutor Ryan Hoovler about which counts would be served concurrently or consecutively for a flat time of four years, Matney balked at the sentencing. She stated she thought she would be eligible for judicial release before the full four years were up, a sentence which she believed to be harsh in light of the felony five counts.

After recessing twice to allow the lawyers to get everything straightened out, Judge Wiseman returned to the case. Matney’s attorney Timothy O’Leary explained to Wiseman that his client wished to withdraw her guilty plea due to the fact that she didn’t understand she would be serving a flat time.

Wiseman continued Matney’s case for trial at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday. Matney will be facing two counts of the misuse of a credit card. Both incidents occurred on March 23 at Moto Mart when Matney attempted to use two credit cards that belonged to an elderly woman.

Jason Utz had no problem admitted to his community control violations but he wanted another chance to get his life straightened out. Utz admitted to entering a vehicle without permission and possessing a syringe needle on May 30. The 40-year-old Bucyrus man had been arrested by police that day and charged with disorderly conduct, criminal damaging, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Utz had also tested positive for cocaine after being transported to the hospital.

Utz’s attorney Timothy O’Leary argued that Utz has since had success with Margie Maddox’s Alpha 12-Step Recovery Program but believed the county’s drug court program is what Utz needed to sustain his sobriety.

Maddox added that Utz had recently become a father and believed that the drug court and fatherhood would help keep Utz on the right track.

Assistant prosecutor Hoovler and Adult Parole Authority Officer Dan Wurm both noted that Utz had qualified for the drug court program before but his actions on May 30 led him to be terminated from the program.

“The one side of me says you’ve had enough chances and I should throw away the key,” Wiseman told Utz. He admitted that the other side of him wanted to give Utz another chance after seeing Utz grow up from a troubled childhood.

Wiseman stated that he would continue the case in order to clearly decide Utz’s fate. The case will be rescheduled for a later date.

Utz currently has four years of prison awaiting him with no opportunity for judicial release should Wiseman choose not to grant him an additional chance.

Ryan Mason appeared in Common Pleas Court for a continued hearing on a motion for community control violations. Mason had been continued on probation in June 2012 but that matter seemed to be a cause for concern. Mason’s attorney Jaceda Blazef produced a document that may show Mason did not have a hearing to extend his probation, which she believed should have ended on Aug. 17. Judge Wiseman continued the hearing to determine if Mason’s probation had been legally extended.

Hillary Ann Turner was granted judicial release Monday afternoon. She had been serving time in prison after pleading guilty in May to the illegal conveyance of drugs onto a detention facility. Turner will be held in the county jail until she can be placed in an inpatient drug treatment program.

A rural Bucyrus woman was permitted to remain on community control to be given the opportunity of the county’s Medically Assisted Treatment program. Twenty-two-year-old Jessica Meadows admitted to violating community control by failing to successfully complete the Salvation Army’s treatment program.

Meadows was first placed on the intervention program in April of 2013, but was revoked from that and placed community control last December.

In other cases in before Judge Russell Wiseman Monday morning, Dustin Jewell’s motion to having the records sealed from a 2009 case was granted. Jewell was convicted of felony 4 drug trafficking.

Wiseman also issued an arrest warrant for Shaun McCarty. McCarty failed to show for a scheduled arraignment. He is charged with felony 5 possession of heroin.