By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — George M. Williams gets supervision for DUI. Judge Hein presided.

Williams, 67, of Versailles, entered a plea agreement to a one count indictment of Driving Under the Influence, a felony of the third degree due to previous convictions.

If found guilty, Williams faces a maximum of 36 months in prison with a minimum mandatory sentence of 60 days. He also faces a minimum mandatory fine of $1,350 with a maximum of $10,500.

Williams had previously gone to treatment for 45 days and was dismissed early due to COVID. Then he completed an additional 60 days.

“The first round of treatment, I got a lot out of it,” Williams said. “I got out a lot from all the treatments, and it allowed me to better understand what was going on in my head.”

Williams has suffered from alcohol addiction for years, and the court agreed it needed to be addressed in order to give Williams the help he needs to not become a repeat offender. State Attorney Jesse Green said the sentence should address Williams’ chronic alcoholism.

“This has been a long standing problem, and he has recently tried to get inpatient help,” Green said. “I believe he needs some more tools in the tool box.”

Williams is currently on supervision in another OVI case, and a sentence on this case can be seen as a violation of that case. All the sentences from this case and that case could be added together. Judge Hein sentenced Williams to supervision for a period of up to 60 months and 50 hours of community service. He is required to serve the mandatory time with credit, and pay the mandatory minimum fine with a three year license suspension.

Judge Hein advised he is not opposed to work privileges, but he is opposed to Williams drinking while driving. He said it is not going to be easy, and Judge Hein is not trying to make light of the situation.

“In your life, this has been a recurring problem. If there was a sobriety fairy, we would have her whack you on the head,” Judge Hein said. “It’s not easy.”

Judge Hein told Williams he “is making progress in some respect, but the potential still hadn’t been reached.”

Zachary M. Hill, of Union City, OH, was sentenced for failure to comply with the terms and regulations of supervision on the original charge of possession of drugs, a felony of the fifth degree. The allegations stated Hill did not report to treatment or to the law enforcement contact as required, and he allegedly participated in illegal use of drugs. He faces a maximum of 12 months in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Judge Hein sentenced Hill to 180 days with 81 days suspended and 99 days credit. Hill will be placed on monitored time supervision for a period of 60 months starting from his supervision start date in October. Failure to comply can lead up to a year in jail with credit for time served.

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