WILMINGTON — A Sabina man was sent to prison after he broke the rules of community controls a fifth time. Another man saw his community controls revoked after one violation involving violence.
The two cases were heard by the same judge in the same court, Clinton County Common Pleas Court, but the rulings were made on a case-by-case basis.
David Joseph Denney, 27, of Sabina, was originally sentenced in February 2017 to a two-year term of community control sanctions for theft from a protected class (elderly person) related to Denney.
After his first violation of community controls, Denney was given a local jail term and required to complete programming offered by the STAR Community Justice Center in Franklin Furnace, Ohio.
He did complete the STAR program but then violated terms of community controls three more times. Denney was then sanctioned to complete the STAR Relapse Program, which he did, but that was followed by a fifth infraction.
In the sentencing paperwork, Clinton County Common Pleas Judge John W. “Tim” Rudduck stated the defendant continues to adhere to a lifestyle of substance abuse.
“The court finds it has no programs left locally,” the judge wrote.
Denney’s violations included testing positive for meth, fentanyl, amphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), buprenorphine, and not reporting to his supervising probation officer.
In February while the defendant was incarcerated at the Clinton County Jail awaiting transport to STAR for the relapse track, a STAR staffer stated Denney looked “high.”
At a court hearing in March, Denney said he ingested drugs while incarcerated, and claimed it was easier to get drugs in the jail than on the street.
In spring 2017, he had tested positive for the use of heroin and fentanyl. Further, he overdosed on heroin in Springfield, Ohio in May 2017.
At the recent court hearing where prison was imposed, Denney received a one-year prison term. Credit was granted for 299 days he had already spent in incarceration on the case.
In an unrelated case, a Wilmington man saw his community controls revoked after about six weeks and after one violation — but it was “a major violation,” stated Rudduck.
With less than a month at the STAR Community Justice Center facility, James Franklin Goble, 44, was discharged from the program for reportedly punching another STAR resident in the face multiple times, according to court papers.
Originally sanctioned to a two-year term of community controls on convictions for possessing meth, possessing heroin, and failing to appear in court, Goble’s community controls were rescinded and he received a 12-month prison term.
Credit was granted to the defendant for 113 days he had already spent in incarceration.
In two other recent sentencings:
• Maykel R. Medley, 21, of Wilmington, guilty of carrying a concealed weapon, was given a suspended six-month jail term, and must forfeit the firearm to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Medley was put on community controls for a two-year term and must pay all court costs. Time credit was granted for seven days served in jail on the case.
• Christopher B. Shyers, 46, of Franklin, Ohio, guilty of possessing drugs, was given an 18-month prison term and must forfeit the contraband and pay all court costs. He was granted credit for 28 days spent in incarceration.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
