MOUNT VERNON — As of May 12, there are 167 men and women serving prison time for crimes convicted in Knox County, according to records from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. This accounts for roughly 0.3 percent of the total prison population of Ohio.
Thirty-six men are serving time for sexually based offenses; seven are serving time for murder. Thirty-one of the 36 men serving time for sex crimes were convicted of rape or attempted rape. This accounts for roughly 19 percent of the total Knox County prison population.
Of the murder convictions, Kenneth Barker has served the most time so far. Barker was convicted in 1993 of stabbing his wife’s lover to death. Court records show that Barker stabbed his wife’s old boyfriend 21 times. Barker, who is serving 15 years to life, is scheduled for a parole hearing in May 2010.
Of the others convicted of murder who are serving time, Derek Fulton, 30, and Samuel Musgrave, 29, are each serving 15 to life for beating a man unconscious and throwing his body in a pond. Both are scheduled for a parole hearing in July 2012.
Jeffrey Hoke, 46, is serving 15 to life for stabbing his wife 32 times in 1999. Michael Allen Finch, 42, is serving 15 to life for stabbing his mother to death in 2000. James C. Flynn, 54, shot a Mount Vernon woman to death in 2000 with a .25 caliber hand gun and is serving 15 to life. Andrew K. McManis is also serving 15 to life for shooting a Mount Vernon man in 2003.
In prison the longest so far, according to records, is 42-year-old Dale Diehl, who is serving 25 years to life for three counts of aggravated robbery, felonious assault and escape. Diehl was convicted in 1985 after a series of crimes in Licking and Knox counties. Diehl will not be eligible for parole until July 2043.
Thomas Cummins, 66, is serving the longest sentence. Cummins was convicted in 1989 of multiple counts of aggravated burglary, engaging in criminal acts, burglary, receiving stolen property, use of criminal tools and other offenses. At the time of his conviction, Cummins was accused of masterminding a string of high-profile burglaries in at least seven other cities, and it was alleged Cummins had ties to organized crimes. Having been sentenced consecutively by several Ohio courts, Cummins is serving 218 to 405 years in prison. His first parole hearing is scheduled for July 2029. He will be 87 years old at his parole hearing.
The oldest Knox County inmate is Charles R. Robertson. The 81-year-old was convicted in 1992 of felonious sexual penetration and gross sexual imposition for crimes against a young girl under the age of 12. Robertson is serving 10 to 25 years.
Of those released on parole, there are 191 men and women who were convicted in Knox County under the supervision of the Adult Parole Authority. According to court officials, the actual number of parolees or people on post release control in Knox County is now far less because some have moved from the area.
According to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, that are 49,973 men and women serving prison time across the state as of April. Figures from the DRC show that Ohio’s prison population is at 131 percent capacity. Of the 49,973 inmates, prison officials claim they only have the designed capacity to house 38,320. There are 182 men and two women on death row.
The DRC has a budget of more than $1.75 billion per year. It costs $69.02 a day, or over $25,000 per year, to house a single inmate.
