By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — Five indicted persons entered pleas in the Darke County Common Pleas Court. Judge Jonathan P. Hein presided.

Matthew J. Shope, of Blacklick, Ohio, entered a guilty plea on Monday to one count of passing bad checks, a felony of the fifth degree. He entered a plea agreement with the state and by doing so count 2 theft, a felony of the fifth degree, was dismissed.

Shope owes restitution of $1,500 that his defense attorney Nicole Pohlman advised he will send later this week. He will be sentenced on April 4 and was granted a continuation of his OR bond. Shope faces up to 12 months incarceration and a $2,500 fine, all of which are not mandatory.

Christine A. Webb, of Greenville, plead guilty Monday to one count of possession of drugs, a felony of the fifth degree via video conference. By entering the plea agreement, the charge was amended to an attempted possession of drugs, a misdemeanor of the first degree.

The plea agreement also states her intervention request had to be withdrawn, and Webb now faces up to six months incarceration and a $1,000 fine, all of which are not mandatory. She was sentenced to 17 days with 17 credited in order to remain in the recovery process she has been in without returning to Greenville where triggers would be greater.

Shane A. Sargent, 26, of Gettysburg, entered a not guilty plea via video arraignment Tuesday for failure to provide notice of an address based upon a prior sexual assault charge. If found guilty, he faces a mandatory 3-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine, neither mandatory.

Sargent was appointed David Rohrer as his public defender and was given a bond of $7,500. Judge Hein will reconsider the bond if Sargent can obtain housing.

“We will have to make sure you have some place to go,” Hein said. We can’t have you sleeping on the street, and you are in a better place in jail.”

Sargent had been living in his truck and filing as homeless after children moved into the place he was originally staying at because part of the stipulations from his conviction is he is not allowed to be around children.

“I don’t want to go back to prison,” Sargent said. “I want to see my first kid being born. I know I messed up. I called my [parole officer]. I thought I figured everything out.”

His next court appearance is April 8.

Jeanette N. Benge, 37, of Piqua entered a not guilty plea via video arraignment Tuesday to one count of grand theft, a felony of the fourth degree. The amount she is accused of stealing is over $7,500 but less than $150,000.

If found guilty, she will face a maximum of 18 months with a $5,000 fine, all of which are not mandatory. Nicole Pohlman was appointed to the case with the next court date scheduled for April 4.

Kimberly S. Dotson, 41, of Greenville entered a not guilty plea via video arraignment Tuesday to one count of possession of fentanyl. If found guilty, she faces up to 12 months incarceration and a $2,500 fine, all of which are not mandatory.

Dotson will be released from jail on March 10 from completing a driving under suspension sentence. Once that sentence is carried out, she will be released on a personal recognizance bond and be placed on pretrial supervision. She will appear for court April 8.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].