By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Events could have gone differently for Mikel Knetter II, but different standards of proof is what ultimately sent him to prison for two years rather than eight.
The 19-year-old Crestline man was the second person sentenced in the Freezer Fresh robbery case Tuesday in Crawford County Common Pleas Court. Crestline police began searching for two men who fled on foot after robbing the ice cream and fast food bar on July 15. It was believed that a 9mm handgun was used in the robbery at the time. In the end, three people were arrested and charged for the alleged crime: Knetter, Tristan Lucas, and Kalib Utz.
Knetter, who had been on community control at the time of the incident for a 2014 burglary, admitted to violating his probation when he took property without consent on July 21, and the state dismissed the aggravated robbery charge.
RELATED CONTENT: Woman chooses prison over probation | Charges and prison time pile up for man once released early | Tiro burglary suspects arraigned
Assistant prosecutor Ryan Hoovler noted that it would be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Knetter committed aggravated robbery but believed there was enough to prove a preponderance of evidence in the probation violation.
Judge Sean Leuthold sentenced Knetter to two years in prison for violating his community control; roughly 200 days of jail time credit will be applied to the sentence.
“You haven’t exactly behaved yourself,” Leuthold said to Knetter. “When you get out, you must live a law-abiding life.”
Judge Sean Leuthold notoriously called Lucas, the first of the co-defendants to plead guilty, one of “three idiots with a pellet gun” when the 22-year-old man pleaded guilty to second-degree felony robbery in December. Lucas was sentenced to five years on community control, mainly due to the questionable level of involvement Lucas may have had in the incident.
The final co-defendant, Utz, is still sitting in jail on a first-degree aggravated robbery charge. The felony carries a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison. Utz’s record included a third-degree felony tampering with evidence and a fifth-degree felony theft in 2015.
RELATED CONTENT: One of ‘three idiots with a pellet gun’ pleads guilty | Bucyrus man found innocent of drug charge now faces 5 more | Freezer Fresh robbery defendant arraigned | Freezer Fresh robbed in Crestline