Ponitz graduation 2012
Cars and Parts Swap Meet
2012 senior class photos
Home > Blogs > Dayton Courts: Legal and crime news > Archives > 2010 > February
February 2010
Dayton drug kingpin gets life sentence
DAYTON — A man convicted of leading a major drug-trafficking organization, which brought hundreds of kilograms of marijuana, cocaine, and heroin to southern Ohio and Kentucky, was sentenced to life in prison Thursday, Feb. 25.
Anthony “Tricky” Baltimore had been on trial before U.S. District Senior Judge Walter H. Rice from Oct. 19 to Nov. 24, when the jury convicted him of four crimes: — one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. — one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense — one count of conspiracy to launder money — one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. Baltimore’s mandatory life sentence stems from his role as one of the principal leaders or organizers of this continuing criminal enterprise.
Baltimore has been in federal custody since his arrest by DEA agents on Oct. 29, 2007.
More than 60 witnesses testified during the trial, presenting evidence that Baltimore was responsible for bringing in large quantities of cocaine from California, marijuana from Texas and heroin from Washington, D.C., according to Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Baltimore operated a number of businesses including an automobile dealership, Prestige Imports of Dayton, as a way to conceal the proceeds from the drug trafficking crimes, Stewart said.
Baltimore was also involved in at least two shootings in connection with the drug trafficking, including hiring someone to shoot a drug customer who refused to pay him, Stewart said.
Testimony also showed that Baltimore used the proceeds of the drug trafficking to support Baltimore Properties. He bought eight pieces of real estate in the Cincinnati area using the name of his 85-year old grandmother and received kickbacks at closing from the loan proceeds. Baltimore used false documents to get loans to buy the properties at inflated prices, Stewart said.
Permalink | |
Woman who admitted hitting man is indicted on murder charge
DAYTON — A woman who admitted hitting William “Bill” Cheeks in the head with a pipe two days before his death was indicted Thursday, Feb. 25, on a murder charge.
The grand jury also indicted Veronica Spears on two counts of felonious assault and one count of tampering with evidence.
Spears, 45, was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on Feb. 17, nearly five days after she dropped Cheeks off at Good Samaritan Hospital with significant head injuries.
Cheeks died at Miami Valley Hospital on Feb. 15. An autopsy found Cheeks died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Spears told reporters on Feb. 16 that she had hit Cheeks.
“They (police) consider me a suspect,” Spears said. “Yeah I hit him, but I didn’t kill him.”
Permalink | |
North Plaza Inn closed permanently by judicial order
HARRISON TWP., Montgomery County — The North Plaza Inn, a source of frequent trouble in Dayton’s DeWeese-Ridgecrest neighborhood, will stay closed for a year, under a permanent injunction ordered Tuesday, Feb. 23.
The hotel, at 3636 N. Dixie Drive, just east of the Dayton-Harrison Twp. border. Neighbors have long complained that the hotel, which rented rooms for $29 a day, is known for drugs and prostitution.
Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Connie S. Price issued a temporary injunction and closing order on Nov. 18. The following day, Sheriff Phil Plummer and Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr. shut the hotel down, moving people out and changing the locks.
According to the permanent order Price signed Tuesday, attorneys for Empire Hospitality Group and the prosecutor’s office had agreed to the permanent injunction. Under the agreement, Empire and its employees are restrained from entering the hotel or the parking lot until Nov. 17.
The agreement eliminates the need for a civil trial to decide whether to shut the hotel down.
During the two and a half years before county authorities shut it down, the hotel was the site of 1,900 calls to the sheriff’s dispatch. What happened at the hotel rarely made media accounts. One exception was when Rachel White was arrested in April 2008 for prostituting her 17-year-old daughter at the hotel. White is now serving a 30-month prison term.
Empire is owned by Sridar Kadaba, a web site designer who works in Manhattan and lives in East Brunswick, N.J.
Last year, Price held a four-day hearing about problems at the hotel. According to a brief filed by assistant county prosecutor Victoria Watson:
— Kadaba’s property manager was arrested at the hotel Sept. 28 for felony violations.
— Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Haas testified he has seen Kadaba in the hotel’s Jacuzzi room “with several known prostitutes.”
— Haas testified that, on one occasion, a 3-year-old child at the hotel was stuck with a used hypodermic needle.
Permalink | |
Man who killed developmentally disabled man sentenced to prison
DAYTON — A Dayton man convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2008 beating death of a developmentally disabled man was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Derek W. Byrd, 44, of 2052 Ravenwood Ave., appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Frances E. McGee. He was to go on trial on Jan. 20, but pleaded guilty on Jan.8.
Police found DonnRay Jackie Dixon’s badly beaten body July 17, 2008 on Ravenwood, a few blocks from his house on West Fairview Avenue, after people driving by saw him lying near the intersection.
When police arrived, Byrd was comforting Dixon, police said. Dixon, 25, died the next day at Miami Valley Hospital, his uncle Daniel Dixon said in July 2008.
Death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head, Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab Director Ken Betz said. Police said Byrd beat Dixon with his fists.
Byrd surrendered to police on July 29, 2008, but had been free on bond since October 2008. A grand jury indicted him on the manslaughter count in April 2009.
Dixon, who the uncle said was developmentally disabled, lived with his mother and siblings in the 700 block of West Fairview.
Permalink | |
Home invaders sentenced to prison
DAYTON — Two men convicted of several felonies in connection with a Huber Heights home invasion were sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 23, to more than three decades in prison.
Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Frances E. McGee sentenced Demetrius Ewing to 31 years and Anthony Wayne Jones to 37 years.
The two were convicted of all indicted charges on Feb. 8, the day they were to go on trial.
Ewing, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated burglary, four counts of kidnapping, five counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of felonious assault, three counts of assault and one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon. Jones, 53, pleaded no contest to the same charges, as well as one count of tampering with evidence.
The charges concern a Feb. 22, 2009 robbery at 5483 Misty Lane. According to police reports, the two men entered an apartment there through a back door while three people were in the residence. A woman’s wrists were bound, a man was put in a closet with the door tied shut and a second man handcuffed and shot in the groin area. Property was allegedly stolen from the apartment and the victims told police they did not know their attackers.
Ewing and Jones have remained in the Montgomery County Jail since their arrests.
Permalink | |
Former Kettering Animal Hospital clerk convicted of identity theft crimes
DAYTON — A former Kettering Animal Hospital clerk, accused of using customers’ credit cards for personal use, pleaded guilty to a 40-count indictment Wednesday, Feb. 23.
Michael E. Rohrer, 23, appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Michael T. Hall, who set sentencing for March 23.
Rohrer pleaded guilty to 13 counts of misuse of credit cards, 13 counts of theft, 13 counts of identity fraud and one count of receiving stolen property.
Rohrer photocopied the credit cards that customers used to pay the business. Between May and August, Rohrer used the credit card information to pay for hotel rooms and room service in Columbus.
“The callousness he displayed in his spending spree is simply amazing,” said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck, Jr. “He used other people’s credit to pay for expensive hotel rooms and fancy meals.”
Permalink | |
Murder-for-hire plot leads to guilty plea
DAYTON — A former Montgomery County Jail inmate, accused of trying arrange a contract murder from the jail, pleaded guilty Monday, Feb. 22, to one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
Robert Rose, 27, appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Connie S. Price, who set sentencing for March 15. Rose is already serving a two-year prison stretch for unrelated offenses.
The charge, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, was the only indicted charge. There is no agreement on sentencing, Assistant County Prosecutor Tracey Ballard Tangeman told Price.
According to the indictment, Rose was incarcerated in the jail between Sept. 14 and Oct. 20 when he solicited another inmate, Elmer Phillips, to kill another man. He offered Phillips $5,000, a car and a place to live, the indictment said.
Rose called the intended victim several times from the jail on Oct. 3 and left threatening messages for him, warning him to stay away from Rose’s girlfriend, the indictment said.
Phillips arranged for Rose to speak with an undercover detective posing as a hit man at the jail on Oct. 15. Rose offered the detective money and a car, and held up a piece of paper with the intended victim’s address, the indictment said.
On Oct. 20, Rose had a piece of paper in his jail cell with contact information for the “hit man,” the indictment said.
Rose was admitted to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction on Nov. 2 after he was convicted in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on charges of burglary and soliciting and on another burglary charge in Clark County Common Pleas Court.
Permalink | |
Convicted robber loses bid to get his pleas vacated
DAYTON — The suspect in a series of major crimes during the summer of 2007, who pleaded guilty to all indicted charges, failed in his bid to get those pleas vacated.
Retired Judge William H. Wolff, Jr. found that Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Singer did not make any promises about sentencing to Anthony Seals.
Seals, 38, has been in prison since November 2008, when Singer gave him a 25-year sentence.
Last year, the county Public Defender’s Office filed a petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that Seals was unable to make a “knowing intelligent and voluntary plea,” because Singer’s off-record statements led Seals to believe he would get a 15-year sentence.
But during a Jan. 28 hearing on the issue, Seals acknowleged that he understood Singer had made no promises, and “he conceded, in a response to a question by the state, that in pleading guilty he took a calculated risk as to his sentence,” Wolff wrote in his decision, which was handed down Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Seals asked that his guilty pleas and sentence be set aside, which would take the case back to right after the indictment phase, allowing him to negotiate another plea or to go to trial.
Seals was a suspect in several robberies when a Riverside police officer spotted him driving on Woodman Drive on July 20, 2007. Seals then led police on a chase, sometimes at speeds higher than 100 mph.
Seals fled into the city of Dayton. He crashed into a building at 28 Burkhardt Road. He jumped out of the vehicle and ran. Dayton and Riverside officers caught him behind 136 Martz Ave., using a Taser on him as he tried to climb a fence.
Ten days later, a grand jury indicted Seals on 15 felony charges, including eight first-degree felonies: three counts of kidnapping, four counts of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated burglary.
On Sept. 18, 2007, the grand jury added another charge: a first-degree count of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer.
Seals was facing a potential aggregate sentence of more than 100 years, according to Wolff’s decision.
The case was set for trial on Nov. 4, 2008. That day, the two sides were unable to reach an agreement during off-record discussions in Singer’s chambers. Seals was represented by Ronald Keller.
“The judge did, however, twice state to defense counsel, Mr. Keller, that the sentence would be somewhere between 14 and 21 years, but closer to 14,” according to the petition. “Mr. Keller told Mr. Seals what the judge had said. Based on the belief that he would receive no more than 15 years in prison, Mr. Seals pleaded guilty to all charges.”
Dewar included affidavits from Keller and Richard Skelton, another defense attorney whom Keller asked to sit in during the discussions in Singer’s chambers. Keller’s statement reflects the version of events in Dewar’s petition. Skelton’s differs in one respect: he remembers Singer indicating a range of 13 to either 18 or 20 years, but the number would be closer to 13.
Permalink | |
Charlie Myers pleads guilty, gets life sentence
DAYTON — Charlie Myers, the Columbus man accused of shooting a Harrison Twp. woman and kidnapping her 4-year-old son, avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty Friday, Feb. 19, to all indicted charges, including eight counts of aggravated murder.
Under the plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Myers, 23, will spend his life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus a 49-year sentence to be served consecutively to the life sentence. Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Dennis J. Langer sentenced Myers immediately.
“You understand that you will never be on parole?” Langer asked Myers. “Do you understand that?”
In addition to the aggravated murder counts, Myers was indicted on four counts of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated burglary, two counts of aggravated robbery, one count of gross sexual imposition of a child under the age of 13, one count of receiving stolen property, one count of grand theft of a motor vehicle and one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon. All charges include firearms specifications.
Eddie Nelson, whose wife Jenny was murdered, told Myers he was there to represent his son, now six.
“The fact that you grew up in a broken home gave you no right to break his,” Eddie Nelson said, his voice building in anger. “You are the monster in his nightmares. You are hated.”
On Jan. 2, 2009, the son of Jenny Nelson approached travelers from Maryland at an Interstate 70 rest stop between Dayton and Columbus. He told them that somebody had shot his mom.
Detectives believe Myers stole the Nelsons’ car in December 2008, then drove to the family’s Harrison Twp. home on Jan. 2. Myers kicked open the front door of the Redder Avenue house, where Nelson was cooking dinner. Her husband was at work at the time.
Myers took Nelson and her son down into the basement, where he tied Nelson to a chair. He then took the boy upstairs and sexually assaulted him, prosecutors said.
Nelson broke free from her restraints, grabbed a knife and stabbed Myers in the side, Heck said. Myers then shot Nelson twice with his shotgun, prosecutors said.
Myers fled in a car, owned by a Nelson relative, with the boy, two computers and Nelson’s cell phone, investigators said.
Myers left the boy that night at a highway rest stop near the Madison and Clark County county line. The boy had no shoes and wasn’t wearing a coat, according to prosecutors.
The Oldsmobile Alero, Myers stole after the shooting, was found Jan. 4 in Columbus, the same day Myers was arrested.
FBI agents tracked Nelson’s cell phone number and determined her cell phone was used twice in Columbus after her death, according to an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Franklin County Municipal Court. One of those calls, made the morning of Jan. 4, was made to Myers’ cell phone.
FBI agents and Franklin County sheriff’s detectives went to Myers’ apartment at 70 McMillen Ave. to determine who called him with the dead woman’s cell phone.
Once inside Myers’ home, investigator’s found a cell phone, a blue Dell laptop computer, and a Playstation 2 video game system consistent with items stolen from the Nelson’s home the night of the slaying, the affidavit said.
Detectives also found four shotgun shells and printed directions to the Nelson’s home on a table the apartment, according to the affidavit. Detectives also found the keys from the Nelsons’ Honda.
Myers, charged with aggravated murder and other felonies, could have faced the death penalty should he have been convicted in a jury trial.
During court proceedings throughout 2009, Langer ordered that Myers, who is hearing impaired, be fitted for hearing aids and found that Myers is competent to stand trial.
In September, Langer held a motion-to-suppress hearing, during which various law enforcement members testified about Myers’ statements. Defense attorneys argued that those statements should be suppressed.
Langer ruled in November that all statements from interviews with detectives and to the media were admissible.
On Jan. 7, 2009, as he was being walked into the Montgomery County Jail, Myers told reporters that “it’s my fault” and “I apologize for the victim.”
Langer did rule to suppress one of Myers’ statements, this time to a correction officer, who asked where he got the cut on his back. Myers responded “that woman cut me, then I killed her.”
Langer found that Myers should have been given a warning that he had a right to remain silent before he was asked that question.
Permalink | |
Charlie Myers pleads guilty to all charges
DAYTON — Charlie Myers, the Columbus man accused of shooting a Harrison Twp. woman and kidnapping her 4-year-old son last year, just pleaded guilty to all charges, including eight counts of aggravated murder.
Myers is before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Dennis J. Langer right now, who was proceeding to sentencing at 11:17 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19.
Prosecutors and Myers’ defense team have reached a plea agreement that would spare Myers’ life. Under the agreement, Myers would plead guilty to all indicted counts and be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus a 49-year sentence to be served consecutively to the life sentence.
Permalink | |
Former Paysource CEO pleads guilty to tax charge
DAYTON — A former Paysource executive who avoided paying $7 million in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service during the second half of 2007 pleaded guilty Wednesday, Feb. 17 to one count of willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation of a fraudulent federal employment tax return.
Charles C. Painter, 60, of Dayton, appeared before U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett. Painter faces a maximum prison sentence of three years and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Painter was employed as the CEO and president of Paysource Inc., Paysource II Inc., Paysource III, Inc., Paysource IV, Inc., Paysource V, Inc., and Paysource VI Inc., all of Dayton.
Painter’s corporate tax return for the third quarter of 2007 fraudulently stated that Paysource II Inc. paid employees wages of $2.4 million, incurring a tax liability of $603,532. The company actually paid $6.6 million and incurred a tax liability of $1.7 million.
Painter was well aware this tax return underreported Paysource II, Inc.’s taxable income, according to Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Painter also filed other fraudulent forms for other Paysource companies for the third and fourth quarters of 2007, Stewart said. The total tax loss to the IRS for the period covering the third and fourth quarters of calendar year 2007 was at least $7 million, Stewart said.
The case was investigated by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Permalink | |
Xenia man convicted of federal tax charge
DAYTON — A Xenia man pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Feb. 17, to one count of willfully filing a fraudulent federal income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service.
William Thurman II, 43, failed to report the commissions earned from the sale of investment opportunities as income on his federal income tax return, according to Carter M. Stewart, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose set sentencing for April 29. Thurman faces a maximum prison sentence of 3 years and a fine of $100,000.
Between 2001 and 2005, Thurman sold investment opportunities in a series of business ventures, including Advance Process Technologies, New Process Technologies and Armadillo Oil, to southern Ohio residents, according to court documents. He received commissions for each sale.
Thurman failed to report the income that he had generated from these commissions on his 2001 through 2005 federal income tax returns.
Under the plea agreement, Thurman agreed to: — file complete and accurate amended federal income tax returns — to fully cooperate with the IRS in order to determine, calculate, and pay all income taxes, interest, and penalties due and owing to the IRS.
Permalink | |
MySpace attacker sentenced to prison
DAYTON — A woman accused of sexually assaulting another woman she met through the MySpace social networking website was sentenced Thursday, Feb. 11, to 12 months in prison.
Markita L. Harper pleaded guilty to the charge on Jan. 21 before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge A.J. Wagner. Four other charges, including kidnapping, attempted gross sexual imposition and two counts of unlawful restraint, were dismissed.
Wagner also sentenced Harper to five years post-release control and designated her a first-tier sex offender.
Harper, 20, of Dayton, went to the victim’s apartment to watch movies with her when the alleged assault occurred on Dec. 11, police said. A friend of the victim showed up at the apartment and pulled Harper away from the victim, police said.
Harper has been in the Montgomery County Jail since her Dec. 18 arrest.
Permalink | |
Accused home invaders convicted of all charges
DAYTON — Two men charged with several felonies in connection with a Huber Heights home invasion, in which a man was shot in the groin, were convicted of all indicted charges on Monday, Feb. 8, the day they were to go to trial.
Demetrius Ewing, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated burglary, four counts of kidnapping, five counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of felonious assault, three counts of assault and one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon.
Anthony Wayne Jones, 53, pleaded no contest to the same charges, as well as one count of tampering with evidence.
Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Frances E. McGee, accepted the pleas found them guilty of all charges. She set sentencing for Feb. 23.
According to prosecutors, both men face a minimum of nine years in prison. For Ewing, the maximum would be more than 100 years in prison. Prosecutors and defense attorneys made no agreement on length of sentence, leaving that issue to McGee’s discretion.
The charges concern a Feb. 22, 2009 robbery at 5483 Misty Lane. According to police reports, the two men entered an apartment there through a back door while three people were in the residence. A woman’s wrists were bound, a man was put in a closet with the door tied shut and a second man handcuffed and shot in the groin area. Property was allegedly stolen from the apartment and the victims told police they did not know their attackers.
Ewing and Jones have remained in the Montgomery County Jail since their arrests.
Permalink | |
Convicted ethnic intimidator and others sued in connection with Jefferson Twp. arson
DAYTON — A man serving a prison sentence for ethnic intimidation, as well as several members of his family, are being sued by an insurance company because of an arson that destroyed a Jefferson Twp. house.
Earl L. McLearran, 40, is in London Correctional Institution, serving a four-year sentence which ends in 2012, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday Feb. 2 in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court by Cincinnati Insurance Company and MV Communites, seeks damages of $101,000 from an Aug. 21, 2008 house fire at 322 Albers Drive, which was owned by MV Communities.
The house was the home of Saundra Ballard, who is black. McLearran is white and lived at 304 Albers.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested McLearran on July 31, 2008, after he was accused of yelling a racial slur at neighbor Saundra Ballard’s son and threatening to burn her house because he didn’t want blacks in the neighborhood.
While Ballard and her sons testified against McLearran before a grand jury, her house was set afire. A teen was charged with delinquency by reason of arson.
The lawsuit lists 11 defendants, six of them minors. Four of the five adults, including McLearran, are listed as defendants individually and as guardians of the minors.
Some of the defendants are described as relatives of McLearran. Nine of them are accused of setting the fire, according to the lawsuit. None of the adult co-defendants besides McLearran have been criminally charged in the case, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records.
McLearran arranged the arson while he was in the Montgomery County Jail, speaking to a co-defendant, the lawsuit states. Another co-defendant, identified as a cousin who had recently been released from incarceration “may have acted in commission of the arson as a favor” to McLearran, “for not testifying against him related to drug charges.”
The lawsuit states that the defendants acted to get revenge on Ballard and her family for McLearran’s ethnic intimidation case and for an altercation between Ballard’s children and some of the minor defendants.
Permalink | |
Blue Dog scammers sued by insurance company
DAYTON - An insurance company has filed a lawsuit against a former Oakwood couple convicted of illegally diverting $280,000 from a local advertising agency.
Cincinnati Insurance Company filed the lawsuit Tuesday, Feb. 2 against Todd D. Wilkerson, a former Blue Dog Productions employee, and his wife, Alison L. Wilkerson, who worked for the firm as an account executive on a contract basis. The Wilkersons now live in Birmingham, Ala.
The Wilkersons both pleaded no contest in September 2008 to engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first-degree felony, and to two third-degree felonies: aggravated theft and money laundering.
Under Ohio law, a first-degree felony is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A third-degree felony is punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Under the plea agreement, Alison Wilkerson was placed on probation. Todd Wilkerson was sentenced to three years in prison, though prosecutors agreed not to object to judicial release after six months. Wilkerson has since been released from prison, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
The lawsuit seeks $279,000 in damages, and states that the company paid nearly $193,000 to Blue Dog Productions, which is co-owned by prominent Dayton attorney Mike Dyer.
The Wilkersons were not ordered to pay restitution, because under Ohio law, restitution cannot be paid to a third-party, in this case the insurance company. At the time of Todd Wilkerson’s sentencing, Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Barbara P. Gorman said she disagreed with that.
“I think you should be paying restitution,” Gorman said. “But that’s not my call.”
Permalink | |
Dayton police officer pleads guilty to charges involving illegal sale of impounded cars
DAYTON — A former Dayton police officer accused of illegally selling impounded cars, pleaded guilty to nine felonies on Wednesday, Feb. 3, and agreed to surrender his peace officer certification.
Phillip Brooks Sr., 44, appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Timothy O’Connell, who set sentencing for March 8.
This is the second time this week that a former Dayton officer has appeared in common pleas court. On Monday, Judge Connie S. Price sentenced Alan Parker to 30 days in jail. Parker pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to two counts of unauthorized use of the “LEADS” confidential database, plus single counts of complicity to commit receiving stolen property and theft in office.
Under the agreement, Brooks pleaded guilty to six counts of tampering with government records, all third-degree felonies, from his original May 21 indictment. Sixteen other counts were dismissed.
Brooks also pleaded guilty to all three counts from his Sept. 25 re-indictment: two counts of theft in office and one count of attempt to commit theft in office, all fifth-degree felonies.
Under Ohio law, third-degree felonies are punishable by up to five years in prison. Fifth-degree felonies are punishable by up to 12 months in prison.
O’Connell told Brooks that he faced up to 33 years in prison, but that he also could be eligible for probation.
Assistant county prosecutor Ward Barrentine told O’Connell that prosecutors and defense attorneys had no agreement on sentencing, leaving it to O’Connell’s discretion.
Brooks will be ordered to pay restitution to the victims, Barrentine said.
Brooks maintained his innocence during an interview with the Dayton Daily News on May 22 stating “I’m not guilty” and “I put this in God’s hands and let my attorney do what he does best.”
Brooks had been suspended without pay since April 13.
Brooks allegedly used a confidential police database to determine the owner of vehicles that had been towed or impounded, according to the county prosecutor’s office. Brooks then used that information to forge a fake bill of sale and had a new title issued in his name.
He would then sell the vehicles. There is no evidence other officers were involved, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said in May.
Permalink | |
Gang member pleads to aggravated murder and other charges in slaying
DAYTON — An alleged gang member accused of killing a social worker during a September robbery attempt pleaded guilty Wednesday, Feb. 3, to aggravated murder.
Cordell Mitchell, Jr., 21, appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Timothy O’Connell, who set sentencing for March 8. O’Connell told Mitchell that he faced a maximum of 70 and one half years in prison.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to all indicted charges in connection with the Sept. 7 death of Stephen Branham, including two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of possessing a firearm after a felony conviction. He also pleaded guilty to both indicted charges in connection with his Sept. 24 arrest: carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a firearm after a felony conviction.
Branham was “well-respected” and “comes from a good family,” assistant county prosecutor David Franceschelli said. “He was attacked before he could even get out of his vehicle.”
Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said in September that Mitchell confessed to the crime and handed over what authorities believe is the murder weapon.
Mitchell was arrested Sept. 24 by deputies and the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force at 915 Steele Ave. in Dayton.
Police say Mitchell and another man tried to rob Branham near Branham’s residence in the 4300 block of Springcreek Drive in the early hours of Sept. 7.
Branham, a well-regarded social worker who facilitated classes on anger management for violent offenders, had just returned from a local club when Mitchell confronted him, Plummer said.
During the confrontation, Branham was shot twice, Plummer said.
Detectives at first ruled out robbery as a motive since Branham’s wallet and car keys were found near his body. But Plummer said — after his deputies interviewed Mitchell — that it appeared Branham was an innocent victim killed “for nothing.”
Mitchell, Plummer said, is a member of the Balla Boy Mafia, a small gang with ties to the Dayton View Hustlers, which has emerged in the last year as the most violent gang in the area.
Mitchell has a violent criminal past that includes a felonious assault with a deadly weapon conviction in April 2007, court records show. He was released from prison in December 2008 after serving a two-year sentence for the crime.
Permalink | |
Man in arson-for-hire scheme gets $100,000 bond
DAYTON — A judge set a $100,000 bond Tuesday, Feb. 2, for man accused of hiring someone to burn down his house three times last year.
James Hodges, 66, of 2216 Rugby Road, appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Mary Wiseman. He was indicted Friday on three counts of aggravated arson (agreement for hire), and two counts of insurance fraud.
The fires were set at the Rugby Road home on Sept. 6, Sept. 7, and Oct. 1, according to the indictment.
Permalink | |
Misuse of confidential database brings jail term for former Dayton police officer
DAYTON — A former Dayton police officer, who pleaded guilty to four felonies last month, was sentenced to serve 30 days in the Montgomery County Jail.
Alan Parker, 53, appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Connie S. Price on Monday, Feb. 2. Price ordered Parker to return to court on Feb. 9 so that he can be taken in to custody.
As part of his plea agreement, Parker resigned from the police department effective Dec. 31. He pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to two counts of unauthorized use of the “LEADS” system, plus single counts of complicity to commit receiving stolen property and theft in office.
All of the charges are fourth- and fifth-degree felonies, punishable by up to 18 months or 12 months in prison. The LEADS system is a statewide criminal database.
On Aug. 17, 2007, Parker was videotaped talking with an undercover officer from the Ohio Organized Crimes Investigations Commission and a confidential informant. The OOCIC was investigating various crimes involving stolen property and vehicles, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by assistant county prosecutor Erin Claypoole.
When the two other people asked about a vehicle, Parker, who was in uniform, on-duty and in a marked cruiser, checked LEADS to confirm that it was stolen, then said “I don’t see s*.”
“He then told them to get out of the area instead of recovering the stolen vehicle and/or making an arrest for being in possession of a stolen vehicle,” according to Claypoole’s memorandum.
On Feb. 13, 2009, an OOCIC agent gave Parker’s son a license plate number to see if it was stolen. The plate number was fictional, and LEADS Control set a trap that would alert if anyone checked the plate. While on duty five days later, Parker ran the plate at his son’s request, the memorandum said.
During a Nov. 3 interview by Dayton detectives, Parker admitted that he used LEADS while on duty to help his off-duty employment repossessing cars for Shaner Auto Sales, the memorandum said.
Parker was suspended on Nov. 3 and forced to turn in his gun and badge.
Parker originally lied to detectives about the case, according to a letter Dayton Police Chief Richard S. Biehl sent to Price, which also said that “had he not resigned, he faced certain termination for his actions.”
Parker graduated from the police academy in April 1990, according to a memorandum filed by his defense attorney, Dennis Gump.
As part of his plea agreement, Parker also waived all rights to future employment with the city of Dayton, unemployment benefits and conversion of sick leave benefits. His guilty plea to theft in office will permanently disqualify him from holding any public office or employment.
Permalink | |
