Will serve five year sentence

 

Drug charges will send a South Point man to prison for five years.

Ronald Patrick, 46, of 287 Township Road 616, was sentenced Wednesday in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court. He pleaded guilty May 23 to three counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs; two of those counts were third-degree felonies but one was a second-degree felony.

State sentencing guidelines require lower courts to issue prison sentences if the felonies are in the first or second degree. Judge D. Scott Bowling also suspended Patrick’s driver’s license.

In another case, Adam Ross, 26, of 2908 County Road 181, Ironton, pleaded guilty on a bill of information to one count of theft. Bowling sentenced him to six months in prison.

Typically Fifth-degree felony theft charges do not warrant a prison sentence. But Ross has had a previous brush with the law, court officials pointed out.

“Mr. Ross has previously been in the penitentiary for theft. That was in 2008 and this justifies his being sent back to prison,” Assistant Lawrence County Prosecutor Mack Anderson explained.

By pleading guilty on a bill of information, Ross admits guilt, avoids having a grand jury convened or a trial and proceeds to sentencing.

Also Wednesday, Tonya Cagle, 43, of 1369 Sycamore St., Fremont, pleaded guilty to charge possession of cocaine, possession of drugs (hydrocodone), possession of drug paraphernalia (roach clips and rolling papers) and possession of marijuana.

Bowling sentenced her to a total of four years community control sanctions under intensive supervised probation (CCS/ISP) and ordered her to successfully complete a rehabilitation program at the STAR Community Justice Center.

“I’ve learned my lesson,” Cagle told Bowling.

A Portsmouth man pleaded guilty to three charges against him but his alleged cohort was only arraigned and entered a not guilty plea pending the outcome of testing on medication they were caught with at the time of their arrest.

Joshua Munion, 27, of 3159 Walnut St., Portsmouth, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, possession of drugs and possession of drug abuse instruments.

Bowling sentenced him to four years CCS/ISP and ordered him to successfully complete a rehabilitation program at the STAR Community Justice Center.

Assistant Prosecutor Mack Anderson said the state is agreeable to dropping the drug charge if the field test shows it is not an illegal drug.

Danielle Rose, 28, of the same address, was arraigned on charges of receiving stolen property and possession of drugs. Her attorney, Philip Heald, said she believes a test will prove the drugs are not illegal. Bowling allowed a lower court bond to continue and added a $10,000 OR bond to it. Rose must return to court July 11.

In another matter, Jeffrey Collinsworth Jr., 45, of 928 Pinson Ridge, South Shore, Ky., was arraigned on charges of obstructing justice and improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle.

He pleaded not guilty through his attorney, Mike Gleichauf. Bowling allowed bond set in a lower court to continue and scheduled a July 3 pretrial conference.