WILMINGTON — Following two acts of aggression at a non-prison correctional facility, a local man was discharged there and the judge gave him an 11-months term of state prison.
Eldon D. Lamb, 30, of Wilmington, was originally convicted in the case for possessing meth. His original sentence of community control sanctions included the successful completion of programming at the STAR Community Justice Center facility, but after less than two weeks there he head-butted a resident and then hit the same resident in the head with a book.
In revoking community controls and sentencing Lamb to imprisonment, Clinton County Common Pleas Judge John W. “Tim” Rudduck noted the defendant had served a prior prison term for extortion in Highland County.
At the Clinton County Common Pleas court hearing where his community control sanctions were revoked, Lamb requested prison, according to a court paper.
“Given his young age, the court hopes defendant takes advantage of all available programming while in prison,” Rudduck wrote in a court entry.
In an unrelated case Adam J. Garrett, 30, of the Blanchester area, was given a 15-months term of prison after he pled guilty to a theft-related offense involving a trailer and to aggravated possession of drugs (meth).
In sending Garrett to prison, Clinton County Common Pleas Judge John W. “Tim” Rudduck said the defendant had expressly declined an opportunity to attend the STAR Community Justice Center program to change his lifestyle.
“Given this attitude, imposing a prison term does not place an unnecessary burden on state resources,” the judge stated in the written sentencing entry.
Garrett has “a troubling criminal history,” has previously served a prison term, and violated terms of his bond in the current case, said Rudduck.
The judge gave the same reasons as explanation when he indicated the court would object to an early release from prison for the defendant.
A September 2018 court paper prepared by Rudduck states there is no pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report to review because Garrett did not report to the PSI officer as ordered; no assessment from a counseling agency because the defendant did not contact any service provider; and no evaluation from STAR as to whether the defendant is suited to admission to the behavioral modification program offered there because, again, he did not take part in an evaluation appointment.
Prior to a July 2018 court hearing in the case, the defendant was directed to submit to a drug test. The results yielded a positive screen for using multiple illegal drugs, states a court paper.
Rudduck wrote he would not entertain a contemplated proposed negotiated settlement of the case that day.
In another case, Logan Hezekiah Hensley, 21, of Wilmington, received a 12-months prison term after he pled guilty to two counts of grand theft and one count of breaking-and-entering.
Hensley was found guilty of stealing a Remington 870 shotgun and a Mosin-Nagant rifle in August 2017 in the city of Wilmington.
The defendant then violated the terms of bond in the case, and failed to report for a sentencing hearing or meet with the court’s pre-sentence investigation official.
Rudduck noted there is a presumption of prison for third-degree felony crimes — the felony level of the two grand theft convictions. The judge added Hensley had not overcome that presumption of prison.
Credit was granted for 124 days already served in the county jail.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
