By: Krystal Smalley
KSmalley@wbcowqel.com
Plenty of jail time was handed out in Crawford County Common Pleas Court Wednesday afternoon.
Forty-seven-year-old Suzanne Zolman of Galion will be spending some time in prison after being arrested for drunk driving. Zolman had been on community control after serving time on a 2011 driving under the influence case. She violated that community control on January 10, 2013 when she operated a motor vehicle under the influence and had been charged with a felony OVI.
Zolman’s probation was revoked and she was ordered to serve the remainder of her 2011 sentence, though she will be credited 95 days.
The felony three OVI charge and guilty plea added an additional four years to Zolman’s prison sentence. Zolman could be granted judicial release after 10 months. She was fined $1,500, had her license suspended for three years, and must complete a drug and alcohol assessment as well as any recommended follow-up treatment.
Zolman’s bond was continued until she could be transported to prison on May 14.
Thirty-eight-year-old Matthew Witten of Bucyrus waived his right to have his case presented to a grand jury and pleaded guilty to a felony five breaking and entering charge. He also entered a guilty plea to a felony five receiving stolen property charge.
Witten had trespassed at a Virginia Ave. home in Bucyrus on Jan. 16 with the intent to commit a theft offense. Between Sept. 1 and 28, 2013, he had received property when he knew it had likely been stolen.
Witten was sentenced to 12 months in prison on the breaking and entering charge, which will be served consecutively with a 12 month prison sentence for the theft charge, for a total of two years. He could be granted judicial release after six months of time served. Witten was also fined $1,500.
Failure to provide a change of address seemed to be a recurring theme for thirty-eight-year-old Timothy Lee Whitt of Bucyrus. Whitt, who had pleaded guilty to that crime in 2012, appeared in court on the same charge once again Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to the amended felony four charge and admitted to his community control violations from the 2012 case.
As a convicted sex offender, Whitt had been required to provide his change of address to the Sheriff’s Office, which he failed to do on April 26, 2013.
Judge Russell Wiseman continued Whitt’s community control on the 2012 case but tolled it until he serves his prison sentence on the 2013 case. Whitt received a 12-month prison sentence on the 2013 case and credited for 282 days he had already served in jail. He must also pay a $500 fine.
Fifty-two-year-old Darrell Hall of Shelby will be serving 90 days in jail after adding another driving under the influence charge to his record. Hall pleaded guilty to a felony four driving under the influence charge. He had operated a vehicle under the influence of alcohol on Jan. 4.
With six prior DUI convictions in Crawford County, Shelby and Mansfield, hall was placed on community control for three years with the stipulation that he spend 90 days in the county jail. He must also complete a drug and alcohol assessment. Hall was fined $1,500 and had his license suspended for three years.
Roderick Phillips, 30, of Galion, had his intervention in lieu of conviction revoked after he admitted to numerous violations. Since Nov. 6 he has failed to report to his monthly office visits and failed to successfully complete his court-ordered substance abuse counseling. He also changed his residence without approval on Nov. 22.
“I can say I am clean,” Phillips told Wiseman, but admitted that transportation problems led him to not be able to show up to his appointments.
“I’m glad for you but that’s not the only issue here,” Wiseman replied.
A guilty plea to a felony five drug possession charge had been held until Phillips successfully completed his intervention program but, with his confession to the violations, that guilty plea was entered. Phillips will serve 60 days in the county jail and then will be placed on community control for three years. His license was suspended for six months and he was ordered to pay a $1,250 mandatory drug fine. Phillips must also complete a probation-approved drug and alcohol treatment program. He will be held in jail until he can be placed in a program.
Visiting court two times in one week is probably not the kind of record to strive for. Thirty-nine-year-old Melissa Stewart had been arraigned in Crawford County Municipal Court earlier this week on a drug possession charge and, on Wednesday, she appeared in Common Pleas Court for violating her intervention.
Stewart had entered a guilty plea to a fifth degree trafficking in drugs charge in 2012, which was to be held until she successfully completed her intervention program. That guilty plea was finally enforced Wednesday when Stewart admitted to testing positive for opiates on June 12, 2013 and on January 25, 2014.
Wiseman believed they had given Stewart plenty of time to try to turn around her life. “I gave you two years. It didn’t help you,” Wiseman said. “We’re going to try the hardball route now.”
Stewart was sentenced to three years on community control with the possibility of entering into substance abuse program. Stewart was also fined $1,250 and had her license suspended for six months.
Twenty-five-year-old Jesse Melba of Galion struck out on his intervention program. Melba, who had a felony five drug possession guilty plea hanging over his head, said he violated his intervention when he admitted to using crack cocaine heroin and having drug paraphernalia in his possession on Dec. 5, 2013. Since July 15 he had also failed to complete his substance abuse counseling.
Melba’s intervention was revoked and his guilty plea accepted. He was sentenced to three years on community control for the July 2013 case and was ordered to complete a drug and alcohol treatment program. His license was suspended for six months and he was fine $1,250.
Melba’s also pleaded guilty to a second felony five drug possession charge. He had possessed heroin in December. He was sentenced to three years on community control, ordered to complete a drug and alcohol treatment program, had his license suspended for six months and was fined another $1,250.
Melba will be held in jail until he can be placed in a treatment program.
Twenty-seven-year-old Zachary Marshall of Bucyrus was another failed intervention case. Marshall admitted to violating his intervention when, on Dec. 3, he failed to follow the order of a police office, he attempted to cause physical harm to Bucyrus police office Bret Thomas, and he possessed drug abuse instruments.
Wiseman accepted Marshall’s guilty plea for a felony five possession of drugs and sentenced him to three years on community control. Marshall must complete a drug and alcohol treatment program, pay a $1,250 fine, and had his license suspended for six months. He was being held in jail until he could be placed in a drug treatment program.
Thirty-six-year-old Bryan Miller of Chatfield appeared in Common Pleas Court for an initial hearing on his community control violations. Miller had been on community control for a 2011 possession of drugs conviction and a 2012 theft conviction.
Miller was alleged to have failed to report to his supervising officer since September.
Assistant county prosecutor Ryan Hoovler said that, because Miller tends to pick up additional felonies when out on bond, he recommended a $50,000 be set for both cases.