MOUNT VERNON — According to Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher, on Monday, Judge Otho Eyster, in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas, sentenced Joaquin Segarra, 40, Lorain, to 15 months in prison for complicity to commit improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle. Thatcher said that on Dec. 15, 2007, Segarra participated in a deer poaching operation with four other Lorain County men who fired muzzleloaders from their motor vehicles. The other men have already been sentenced to prison terms, according to Thatcher. The investigation was conducted by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife.
On Friday, Eyster sentenced seven men and one woman for various felony crimes, including Timothy R. Patterson, 31, Mount Vernon, who received a four-year prison term for illegal cultivation of marijuana, possession of hashish and endangering children. Patterson was fined $10,000, and his driver’s license was suspended for three years.
Thatcher said that on June 13 at about 10:45 a.m., the Knox County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Patterson’s residence on Beckley Road. Patterson had converted two upstairs rooms into a marijuana growing operation. The sheriff’s office seized approximately 80 growing marijuana plants and a quantity of dried marijuana, as well as fertilizers, potting soil, fans, grow lights and other items commonly used to grow marijuana. The KCSO also seized over 19 grams of hashish, a liquid preparation made from the resin contained in marijuana.
Thatcher said Patterson was convicted of endangering children for allowing his 3-year-old child to live in the residence while the indoor marijuana grow was in operation. Detective Sgt. Gary Rohler, Detective Roger Brown and Detective Dave Light, KCSO, investigated the case, with the assistance of special agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
Jonathan W. Wyatt, 22, was convicted of sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Wyatt was sentenced to a seven-year prison term and classified as a Tier III sex offender. Thatcher said that as a Tier III sex offender, when Wyatt is released from prison, he will be required to register his address with the sheriff’s office for life, including in-person address verification every 90 days.
David A. Baugh, 19, was convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Baugh was sentenced to a three-year term of community control supervision, including a 90-day jail sentence that started immediately. Baugh will serve a 17-month prison sentence if he violates any term of his supervision. As a Tier II sex offender, Baugh will be required to register his address with the sheriff’s office for 25 years, including in-person address verification every six months.
Thatcher said that on July 4 in a local park, Wyatt engaged in sexual conduct with a 14-year-old girl. The night of July 29, in a friend’s apartment, Wyatt engaged in sexual conduct with a 12-year-old girl and Baugh engaged in sexual conduct with a 13-year-old girl. Detective Tom Bumpus, KCSO, investigated the cases.
Edbin Moralez, 32, Mount Vernon, was convicted of gross sexual imposition for having sexual contact with a 10-year-old child, on Jan. 15. Moralez was sentenced to four years in prison and he will likely face deportation to Mexico when he is released from prison, according to Thatcher. If Moralez is not deported, as a Tier II sex offender, he will be required to register his address with the sheriff’s office for 25 years, including in-person address verification every six months. Bumpus investigated the case.
Alan D. Pelow II, 21, Mount Vernon, was convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Pelow was sentenced to a three-year term of community control supervision including a 60-day jail sentence that started immediately. Pelow will serve a 17-month prison sentence if he violates any term of his supervision. Thatcher said Pelow engaged in sexual conduct with a 15-year-old girl, on Aug. 15, 2007.
Michael R. Smithhisler, 21, Mount Vernon, was also convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Smithhisler was sentenced to a three-year term of community control supervision, including requirements that he complete a sex offender program and a drug and alcohol assessment. Smithhisler will serve a 17-month prison sentence if he violates any term of his supervision. Thatcher said Smithhisler engaged in sexual conduct with a 15-year-old girl, beginning in May 2007.
Pelow and Smithhisler were both classified as Tier II sex offenders. Bumpus investigated the cases.
Edward S. Farren, 28, Mount Vernon, was convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to 17 months in prison. On June 14 at about 4:40 p.m., Farren chased a 48-year-old woman from his Cassil Street residence into the street, where he threw her to the ground, then punched and kicked her while she tried to get away. The victim suffered a severe laceration to her upper lip and some broken ribs. Cpl. R.K. Morgan, Mount Vernon Police Department, investigated the case.
Alisha Oswalt, 28, Mount Vernon, was convicted of three counts of deception to obtain dangerous drugs and one count of illegal processing of drug documents. Oswalt will serve a three-year term of community control supervision, including requirements that she submits to a drug and alcohol assessment, treatment and monitoring, and her driver’s license was suspended for six months. Oswalt will serve a 17-month prison sentence if she violates any term of her supervision. Thatcher said that between February and December 2006, Oswalt had overlapping prescriptions for Oxycodone and Oxycontin written by seven doctors filled at nine pharmacies, and she altered a prescription on Feb. 28, 2007.
