By Kathy Laird
CCN correspondent
BUCYRUS — Several defendants appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday.
Michael Mazur, 32, currently on Judicial Release had his community control revoked and was taken into custody.
Mazur was released from prison in March 2018. He admitted to consuming alcohol and smoking marijuana. According to probation officer Mark Alspach, Mazur is the subject of an ongoing sexual assault case by the Bucyrus Police Department.
Judge Sean Leuthold told Mazur that he was not comfortable releasing him while he is the subject of a sex crime investigation. Leuthold went on to tell Mazur that if he was cleared of the most recent allegations he would most likely not send him back to prison.
Mazur began to hang his head and cry which drew Leuthold’s anger.
“Stop acting like an idiot. Stop acting like a five-year-old in my court,” Leuthold said. “I just gave you some great news. I don’t normally tell a defendant what my plan is, but I saw you were upset and decided to tell you this to calm you down.”
Bond for Mazur was set at $100,000 and attorney Joel Spitzer was appointed to represent him.
Christian Symsick, 36, of Galion will spend the next five years on community control. She pled guilty to possession of drugs, third-degree felony. Leuthold described Symsick as being the “Bonnie” to her co-defendant’s “Clyde”. He told Symsick he understood that she was an addict and got involved with a serious drug dealer.
As part of a plea agreement, Symsick will turn over computers and flash drives to prosecutors. Leuthold warned her that if additional crimes were discovered on the computers, she would be subject to additional charges. Leuthold noted that he had sentenced her co-defendant to several years in prison.
“I am giving you the benefit of the doubt here,” Leuthold said. “But there is no room for error in your life. I’m willing to give you a second chance but do not expect a third. I reward good behavior not bad.”
Brian Yacob, 28, of Willard will spend the next five years in prison after pleading guilty to five charges of drug trafficking, each a fifth-degree felony and each punishable with up to 12 months in prison.
“What in the hell possessed you to come into Crawford County and traffic drugs?” Leuthold inquired.
Explaining he’d made a bad call, Yacob replied that he did not know he was in Crawford County. He said he was lured across county lines in an undercover operation.
“Please tell your cell mates, for the love of God, do not sell drugs in Crawford County,” Leuthold said.
A Bucyrus woman was sentenced into the Volunteers of America rehabilitation program when she appeared in Common Pleas Court to plead guilty to violating the terms and conditions of her community control. Nichelle Ruehle, 49, of Bucyrus has until November 1, 2018 to enroll in the rehabilitation program.
Ruehle admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol, driving without a license, failing to report contact with police to her probation officer and having a blood alcohol level of .0185.
“If there’s another violation you could go to prison,” Leuthold said. “Don’t think that because you are going to the VOA, that you can just continue to violate.”