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By Lou Grieco
| Monday, February 8, 2010, 10:38 AM
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.
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By Lou Grieco
| Friday, February 5, 2010, 05:01 PM
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.
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By Lou Grieco
| Friday, February 5, 2010, 04:20 PM
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.”
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By Lou Grieco
| Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 05:14 PM
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.
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By Lou Grieco
| Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 03:46 PM
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.
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By Lou Grieco
| Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 12:05 PM
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
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.
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By Lou Grieco
| Monday, February 1, 2010, 01:58 PM
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.
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