Judge hands Workman 40-year prison term

WAPAKONETA - A 45-year-old Montezuma man on Wednesday was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for taking nudity-oriented photos of local teenage girls and attempting to cover up evidence.

Timothy Scott Workman emphatically maintained his innocence in court. When questioned by Auglaize County Common Pleas Court Judge Frederick Pepple if he had anything to say prior to sentencing, he quickly asked, "Other than I'm not guilty?"

Pepple also labeled Workman a Tier II sex offender. Upon release from prison, he must report his address to the county sheriff every 180 days for 25 years.

Workman will be eligible for parole after 20 years. However, he also faces prison terms for weapons charges in a pending federal case and charges of promoting prostitution and tampering with evidence in a pending Mercer County case.

An Auglaize County jury on Oct. 3, after a weeklong trial, found Workman guilty of 78 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance and one count of tampering with evidence for attempting to delete camera/cellphone data. He faced a maximum sentence of 354 years in prison.

The prosecution on Wednesday recommended 50 years in prison with the possibility of release after 25 years.

Several motions, including a request for a new trial and a new attorney - handwritten and filed by Workman after court deadlines - were denied by Pepple before sentencing. Workman's attorney, William Kluge, told Pepple that Workman had written nearly all the motions himself while incarcerated in Lucas County after firing his previous attorney, Ralph Bauer.

The victims - ages 16 and 17 at the time of the offenses in 2013 - were present Wednesday but opted not to comment in court. They earlier had given written statements to the judge to review before sentencing.

The teens reportedly met Workman while taking martial arts classes in a gym at his residence. They later agreed to have their photos taken by him in exchange for cash, court documents state. The girls eventually told Mercer County Sheriff's detectives about the photo sessions, which had taken place at a Wapakoneta motel in 2013. Workman was arrested during a sting operation Sept. 30, 2013, at a St. Marys hotel.

Shortly after Workman was jailed, he attempted to hire an inmate to harm the girls, assistant prosecutor Andrew Augsburger told the court.

Workman several times on Wednesday was told by the judge to be quiet when speaking out of turn. Kluge, at one point, appeared agitated by his client's behavior.

"Are you going to let me finish?" the Lima attorney asked Workman when he interrupted a discussion between Kluge and Pepple.

When asked to speak on his own behalf, Workman said he's being called a child molester and "I don't like it." He said the victims and law enforcement officers lied to incriminate him. He also claimed Bauer had refused to allow certain witnesses to testify at trial and failed to introduce evidence that would have cleared his name.

"If you're innocent, you should be allowed to say it. You've been lied to and we had all the proof in the world," he told Pepple.

He also claimed Bauer during trial tried to force him to accept a plea agreement with the prosecution. Augsburger later clarified the issue.

"I just want it noted for the record that I never offered Mr. Workman a plea agreement," he said.

Pepple said he wouldn't have approved the deal anyway.

"If it had been negotiated, the court would have objected due to the charges," the judge said.

Before sentencing, Pepple said he based the length of the prison term on the seriousness of the crime, Workman's lack of remorse, likelihood of recidivism and past criminal history.

Workman served several years in prison for aggravated robberies and thefts with firearms in the 1980s and '90s in Hamilton, Butler and Montgomery counties. In one case, he "seriously beat up" a cab driver after pulling a gun on him, Pepple noted.

Workman also was convicted of escape in 1989 in Butler County after receiving assistance from friends and a sheriff's deputy. He was found six hours later, the judge said.

"There are issues of dishonesty to law enforcement," Pepple said. "He is a compulsive liar and manipulator."

Workman requested a court-appointed attorney to help him file an appeal following Wednesday's hearing. Pepple said the court finds him "provisionally indigent" unless it's discovered he still owns a home on state Route 219 in Montezuma that he earlier gave to Bauer as payment for services.

Workman said he may get back the property.

"I gave it to Mr. Bauer but requested it be returned since he breached his contract," he told the judge.

He also claimed Bauer took other items from his property and told him during trial he was going to keep them because "I was going to prison forever."

"He (Bauer) said 'you're not getting anything back,' " Workman said.

Pepple ordered Workman sent to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in Orient, but asked sheriff's deputies to let him know if the U.S. Marshal wants Workman in a federal prison due to the pending weapons case.