‘Spread the word – this is the wrong county to be selling drugs’

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

Before he left the Crawford County Common Pleas Courtroom Monday, Brian Taylor was given a message from Judge Sean Leuthold.

“Spread the word,” Leuthold told Taylor. “This is the wrong county to be selling drugs.”

Taylor, a 34-year-old Bucyrus resident, pleaded guilty to charges of third-degree drug trafficking. A charge of second-degree drug trafficking was dropped by the Prosecutor’s Office in exchange for the plea.

In sentencing Taylor to the maximum 36-months in prison, Leuthold noted Taylor’s criminal record which includes a 1998 conviction for aggravated robbery. Taylor was also fined $5,000 and ordered to forfeit drug-related property seized by law enforcement officers to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office.

Taylor wasn’t the only defendant to get a change of address from the county jail to an Ohio prison on Monday. In an unrelated case Amillia Mulvane’s community control was revoked and she was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Mulvane, a 24-year-old Youngstown native, admitted to violating terms of her community control as a result of a positive test for marijuana, refusing to report to her probation officer, changing addresses without prior notification and failing to successfully complete a drug and alcohol treatment program.

Mulvane was placed on community control in October following a conviction on felony domestic violence charges.

In other court news from Monday morning, Justin Noel was arraigned on a charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor which is a fourth-degree felony and punishable with a maximum prison sentence of 18 months. Noel’s bond was set at $350,000 and Andrew Motter was appointed as his attorney.

Justin McMillen took a shortcut through the criminal justice system and pleaded guilty to a bill of information charging him with fifth-degree obstruction of justice. The County Prosecutor’s Office recommended five years of community control and completion of a drug and alcohol as well as mental health evaluation. Judge Leuthold ordered a pre-sentence investigation prior to McMillen’s formal sentencing.

The judge gave Briona Rose some rope Monday to see if she pulls herself up with it, or the alternative. Rose pleaded guilty to fifth-degree drug possession. The recommended sentence is five years on community control and completion of an approved drug and alcohol treatment program plus a $1,250 fine.

Leuthold released Rose on a personal recognizance bond during a pre-sentence investigation and emphasized repeatedly to her that although not prison-eligible at the current time due to first-offender sentencing guidelines, should she violate conditions of the bond – including the use of drugs or alcohol – she could be sentenced to prison for violating the bond as well as a 12-month sentence on the original drug possession charge.

Leuthold further informed Rose that she would be drug tested when she returns to court for her formal sentencing.

Judge Leuthold is giving Marissa Donohue two weeks to prove him wrong.

Leuthold told 23-year-old Donohue that he was on the fence on her punishment. Donohue had been on community control since September of 2013 after serving time in prison for trafficking in drugs, possession of drugs, and aggravated robbery.

Donohue admitted to violating the terms of her community control Monday. Throughout 2014, Donohue had obstructed official business, possessed drug paraphernalia, changed her Lucas County address without permission, refused to submit to a drug screen, and failed to complete her court-mandated substance abuse counseling in Lucas County.

Leuthold ordered Donohue to be released on a personal recognizance bond but stated that she would appear for drug screen tests every morning for the next two weeks. Leuthold told Donohue he would decide on sentencing after he assessed her behavior during that two-week period.

“If you don’t show up – no matter what it is – I want bond revoked, warrant issued. If you test positive for anything, I want her arrested, taken to jail, and held without bond,” Leuthold ordered. “I may impose the remainder of your prison sentence; I may not. I will decide in two weeks.”

Twenty-five-year-old Jamie Davis was granted judicial release Monday. Davis had spent nearly 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to burglary. While in prison she had given birth.

“This gave me a real eye-opener,” Davis said. “I just want the chance to be right. I want a chance to be a good mom. I want to live the way normal people live.”

Leuthold noted that Davis had made good use of her time in prison and cited the numerous programs she had taken while there. He granted the judicial released and placed her on five years of high level supervision.