MOUNT VERNON — A Fredericktown man was sentenced to almost three years in prison in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas after three of his cases were completed on the same day.
Shaun J. Ward, 33, was given three 11-month terms, to be served consecutively, after he had submitted pleas of guilty to multiple charges in three separates cases June 20.
The three cases were tied to three separate incidents that happened in quick succession between December 2018 and April 2019.
A month later on Jan. 16, he was arrested again for another count of aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, and also charged with obstructing official business, a misdemeanor of the second degree.
While awaiting the first two cases to continue, he was arrested a third time in April on one count of theft, another fifth-degree felony.
Judge Richard D. Wetzel gave out 11-month sentences for each of the felonies, and 60 days for the misdemeanor, but several of the longer sentences were ordered to be served concurrently and three separate 11 month terms per case were to be served consecutively - for a total of 33 months.
In other cases from Common Pleas Court on Thursday:
Van J. Ward, 37, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty to one count of aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. This incident violated his previously ordered community control and could result in an imposition of a 365-day sentence or his remaining community control time, which is 443 days, because it is longer. It would also be in addition to and possibly consecutive to a separately-ordered sentence of between six and 12 months for the new violation. His sentencing hearing will be Sept. 5.
Troy Martin, 39, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on one count of failure to register a new address, a felony of the third degree. He had previously been convicted on a sexually-based offense involving a minor in 2005 and was ordered to register as a Tier-1 sex offender.
The new charges stem from his allegedly failing to register a new address and being out of contact between Jan. 1 and April 12, 2019 and having previously not registered new addresses in both 2011 and 2012.
The jointly-recommended sentence for Martin, from both the prosecution and the defense, was three years in prison on the new charge, but the court ordered a pre-sentence investigation and postponed sentencing to a later date.
Alex Shoemaker, 34, offered a plea of guilty to one count of aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, but his plea was held because he was admitted into the Intervention in Lieu of Conviction (ILC) program.
James Birchfield, 41, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty to one count of theft from a person from a protected class, a fourth-degree felony.
He allegedly took, forged and cashed checks that belong to a couple, both of whom are in their 70’s. His sentencing hearing will be Sept. 5.
John Palmer, 29, was resentenced to a two-year term of community control and time served in two drug-related cases, one from 2017 and one from 2018. Because of his days of credit in both cases, he was released from jail immediately after his hearing. Judge Wetzel said to Palmer at the end “I hope I don’t see you again in that chair.”
