Decatur woman headed back to prison

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

A total of 10 people appeared in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday, including an Indiana woman who was sentenced to prison for a probation violation.

Crystal Stauffer, 36, of Decatur, Indiana, admitted to violating her probation by failing a drug test and lying to her probation officer. Judge Charles D. Steele sentenced Stauffer to two years in prison, but also gave her credit for 565 days already served, meaning she will serve only about 5½ months in prison.

Stauffer and Isaac J. Gase, also of Decatur, were convicted of burglarizing four homes in southern Van Wert County back in May 2010 to get money to buy drugs. She was later released early from prison and placed on probation.

Six people were in court for change of plea hearings. They include:

Joe Quevedo, 49, of Van Wert, pleaded guilty to a prosecutor’s bill of information charging him with breaking and entering, a felony of the fifth degree. Burglary charges originally filed were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea to the breaking and entering count. A presentence investigation was ordered and sentencing scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, October 29.

Tristen Moore, 28, of Payne, changed his plea from guilty to no contest to two counts of attempted aggravated vehicular assault, each a felony of the fourth degree.

Two counts of aggravated vehicular assault (both third-degree felonies), another count of attempted aggravated vehicular assault and one count of operating a vehicle while impaired (a first-degree misdemeanor), were all dismissed by the prosecutor in exchange for his guilty plea. A presentence investigation was ordered and Moore will appear for sentencing at 9 a.m. Wednesday, November 19.

Elizabeth Roberts, 26, of Van Wert, entered a guilty plea to two counts of complicity to trafficking in marijuana, each a felony of the fourth degree. She then requested and was granted treatment in lieu of conviction.

Joshua Roberts, 32, of Van Wert, changed his plea to guilty to three counts of trafficking in marijuana, each a fourth-degree felony offense, and one count of attempted trafficking in marijuana, a fourth-degree felony (reduced from felony of the third degree). He then requested, and was granted, treatment in lieu of conviction.

Drew Kenny, 21, of Van Wert, entered a guilty plea to a prosecutor’s bill of information charging him with trafficking in drugs in the vicinity of a school, a felony of the fourth degree. A presentence investigation was ordered in the case and sentencing scheduled for 9 a.m. October 29. A $5,000 cash bond from his previous case was transferred to this case and a previous charge of corrupting another with drugs was dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea.

Andrew Thomas, 32, of Ohio City, pleaded guilty to one count of escape, a felony of the fifth degree. A presentence investigation was ordered and Thomas is set to appear for sentencing at 9 a.m. Wednesday, October 22.

Kaitlin Russell, 18, of Delphos, admitted to violating her treatment in lieu of conviction program by leaving the drug treatment center early. Judge Steele then found her guilty on her previous charge of possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony offense. He then ordered a presentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for 9 a.m. November 19.

Two people were also sentenced in Common Pleas Court on Wednesday.

Jacquelyn Forthman, 25, of Ohio City, was given three years of community control on a charge of trafficking in heroin, a fifth-degree felony. Her driver’s license was also suspended for six months and she must participate in a new Drug Court program.

Adam Hector, 27, of Ottawa, was sentenced to 12 months in prison on a count of breaking and entering, a felony of the fifth degree, and 90 days in jail on a misdemeanor criminal damaging charge. The two sentences are to run concurrently with each other, but consecutive to a sentence he is currently serving that was handed down in Putnam County. He was also ordered to make restitution in the amount of $1,210 to two victims in the case.