GREENVILLE — Darke County Common Pleas Court heard cases involving drugs, driving under the influence, and attempted escape from custody this week. Judge Jonathan P. Hein presided.
Dylan Julian, 24, of Greenville, was sentenced to 60 months probation on one count of aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. Julian pleaded guilty to the charge May 11.
“At the moment, you’re in a good place,” Judge Hein told the defendant. “You’re married; you have housing; you’re employed. You’ve had a couple of good sobriety reports. Your challenge now is to try and break the cycle of negative relationships that have led you to this point.”
Hein stressed that though the law considers someone an adult at the age of 18, science says the brain doesn’t reach full maturity until 25 or so.
“So you’re getting to the point where your brain should be catching up to your conduct,” Hein told Julian.
Rickey Elson, 60, of Greenville, was granted judicial release after serving seven weeks of an initial nine-month sentence for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence, a third-degree felony. The OVI charge is typically less severe but was compounded in this case because Elson has three or more priors for the same offense.
“Pretrial supervision really helped Rickey,” Elson’s attorney told the court Monday. “He was clean longer than he ever has been.”
Darke County Prosecutor R. Kelly Ormsby told the court he had no objection to Elson being granted judicial release.
“The purpose of the prison sentence was to show you how lucky you are to not be in prison,” Hein told Elson. “So now we’re going to give you a chance to prove that you don’t need to be in jail to be sober.”
Zachary Geiger, 23, of Greenville, was arraigned on charges of escape, a third-degree felony carrying penalties of up to three years in prison and a potential $10,000 fine. Geiger, whose record includes arrests for arson, trafficking and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, allegedly cut an electronic monitoring bracelet from his ankle then pried a metal plate from the wall of his cell and used it to try and break open a window.
Judge Hein entered a not guilty plea on Geiger’s behalf and appointed attorney Randall Braeden to represent the defendant. His next court appearance on the escape charge is a pre-trial conference, to be held Aug. 21.
Heather Fox appeared on charges of probation violation. Fox was on community control for non-support of dependents, a fifth-degree felony. Her probation officer, Ty Thacker, said Fox had failed to report to him for several months, as well as being discharged from a court-ordered substance abuse recovery program and failing to provide proof of employment. Judge Hein released Fox on her own recognizance; her next appearance is a probable cause and disposition hearing, to be held Aug. 10.
