Man who scammed friends sentenced

A Celina man who duped his friends out of thousands of dollars is headed to prison following an appearance in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.

Daniel L. Dircksen, 20, 400 E. Warren St., Lot 35, listened intently as defense attorney Donna Post spoke on his behalf in a case involving three counts of passing bad checks. He entered a guilty plea during an earlier Feb. 7 proceeding.

"He has accepted responsibility and regrets his actions," Post said. "Being 20 years old, he got in over his head."

According to court records, Dircksen convinced three friends to cash his personal checks at their respective banks, knowing those nine checks totaling more than $4.500 would be dishonored.

He received a total of 22 months in prison, including 10-month terms on each of the three fifth-degree felonies with the time to be served concurrently.

Another case involving violation of community control sanctions drew an additional 12 months behind bars. The time will be served consecutive to the other sentence.

Dircksen pleaded guilty April 27, 2004, to gross sexual imposition and was sentenced to up to four years CCS. The case involved sexual contact with a girl under the age of 13.

The first violation occurred July 1 when Dircksen failed to successfully complete court-ordered counseling at New Horizons Counseling Service. Additional violations took place Nov. 13 when he was charged with having a blood-alcohol content of .105 and operating a vehicle under the influence in Auglaize County. The offense took place at 1:55 a.m., long past his court-imposed curfew, and involved alcohol which he was ordered not to consume.

Dircksen failed to notify the adult probation department but his probation officer reportedly read about his municipal court appearance in the newspaper.