By Shelley Grieshop
sgrieshop@dailystandard.com WAPAKONETA -- Several area residents were sent to prison and others await sentencing following drug busts in January and April by the Grand Lake Task Force.
Court proceedings continue for some of the two dozen suspects arrested in the raids that took place in Mercer and Auglaize counties.
The following is an update of cases from suspects arrested in January:
¥ Adam Cornett, 24, 1806 Nagel St., St. Marys, was sentenced to a total of 36 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts drug trafficking and one count possession of heroin, all fifth-degree felonies.
Auglaize County Common Pleas Court Judge Frederick Pepple suspended Cornett's driver's license for five years, which begins upon his release from prison. He also was ordered to pay $202 in restitution to the task force. Cornett's mother, Carolyn Cornett, 49, same address, was sentenced to 22 months in prison and ordered to pay $5,000 in fines in early April after pleading guilty to two counts of drug trafficking.
¥ Matthew Mark Kelly, 32, 201 E. Spring St., St. Marys, pleaded guilty recently to two counts of trafficking in marijuana, a fifth-degree felony. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 5.
¥ Heather Clayton, 18, who gave addresses in Celina and St. Marys, pleaded guilty to cocaine possession, a fifth-degree felony. Pepple granted her motion for intervention (a plan of rehabilitation) in lieu of conviction and stayed the matter pending the outcome.
¥ Wayne Storer, 24, of St. Marys, pleaded guilty to cocaine possession, a fifth-degree felony.
In another case against Storer, the prosecutor's office dropped the original indictment charges of corrupting another with drugs, a second-degree felony, and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. Instead, Storer agreed to plead guilty to a bill of information charging him with cocaine trafficking and attempting to tamper with evidence, a third-degree felony.
Sentencing is slated for June 15 in both cases.
The following cases are pending from the drug bust in April:
¥ Michael E. Bayman, 53, 401 S. Pear St., St. Marys, pleaded not guilty to two counts cocaine possession and one count drug possession, fifth-degree felonies.
Pepple placed Bayman on a $25,000 bond and set a pretrial hearing for July 5.
¥ Althea Reis, 36, 8500 state Route 703, lot 3, Celina, submitted a written plea of not guilty to three counts of drug trafficking, a fourth-degree felony. A pretrial hearing is set for Friday. |
