BUCYRUS—Healea Walters of Galion appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday to plead guilty to violating the terms and conditions of her community control.
Walters, 23, was placed on community control in March after she pleaded guilty to possession of drugs, a fifth-degree punishable by up to12 months in prison.
According to probation officer Eric Bohach, Walters tested positive on April 4 for amphetamines and methamphetamines.
“You made it a whole seven days on community control and here we are,” Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold said.
Leuthold sentenced Walters to the maximum of 12 months in prison. He did not rule out the possibility of a judicial release down the road.
“I’m sentencing you to the maximum sentence. Take this time to get your head on straight,” Leuthold said. “If I let you out down the road, I am putting you into an intensive treatment program.”
In other court action, Amber Clinard, 34, of Bucyrus appeared in court to ask for a new attorney. Clinard faces one count of burglary, a second-degree felony, punishable with up to eight years in prison and one count of drug trafficking, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 36 months in prison.
Leuthold had originally appointed Tom Nicholson to represent Clinard.
“Normally, I do not allow a defendant to change attorneys after I have appointed an attorney to the case,” Leuthold said. “However, Ms. Clinard is facing up to 11 years in prison. On such serious charges I will allow for one change of attorneys.”
Leuthold appointed Mansfield attorney Jerry Thompson to represent Clinard. Leuthold noted that there were several other defendants in the case who had already been appointed to her co-defendants. To avoid a conflict of interest Leuthold chose the Mansfield attorney.
“I’m not playing games with you. I am setting this matter for a very quick pre-trial next week. Don’t think you can come in here every two weeks and ask for a new lawyer,” Leuthold said.
Notasha Bayless, 35, of Bucyrus was scheduled to appear in Common Pleas Court to answer to a motion to revoke diversion. Bayless was placed on diversion in October 2018 after she pleaded guilty to four counts of passing bad checks, each one a fifth-degree felony and each punishable by up to 12 months in prison.
Bayless checked into the court but left before the hearing. The state asked for a warrant to be issued for her arrest. Leuthold investigated and learned that Bayless may have thought she was released from appearing in court.
“There is a possibility she did not understand, so I’m going to hold the warrant until Thursday. If she doesn’t contact us or show up by Thursday, I will issue the warrant for her arrest,” Leuthold said.