Sandusky County: Sexual conduct convictions upheld

The Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Sandusky County man for one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one count of attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, ruling the consecutive prison terms of 18 months and 12 months were within sentencing guidelines.
Trevor Pyle had appealed the 30-month sentence imposed by the Sandusky County Common Pleas Court in June 2020 after he pled guilty and the prosecution agreed to drop other charges.
During the sentencing hearing, his attorney described Pyle as a young man who desired a chance to receive treatment for drug and mental health problems. Also, he had family support and available employment and he would be willing to follow any conditions set by community control.
The court also heard from the father of one of the victims before sentencing and considered the age of the victims and noted Pyle brandished a gun during one incident.
The first incident occurred around Nov. 30, 2015 when Pyle was 18 and the girl was 14 and the other incident occurred around June 28, 2018 when he was 21 and the other girl was 13.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge said it was a “fairly harsh sentence” but that Pyle “was headed down a bad road” and “the time spent will be time that he can use to change if he chooses to do so. That will be up to him.” He also had been on probation and community control in other cases as a juvenile and adult and had violated those terms.
The appeals court, citing a 2020 decision by the Ohio Supreme Court, ruled that nothing in the relevant provision in the Ohio Revised Code permits an appeals court to independently weigh the evidence in the record and substitute its judgment for that of the trial court concerning the sentence that best reflects compliance with state law.

Sentence vacated
A 36-month prison term for a man convicted of failure to comply with an order of a police officer and petty theft has been vacated by the court of appeals and remanded to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing.
Brandon Wheeler pled guilty to one count each in Wood County Common Pleas Court after being indicted in February 2020. The charges stem from the theft of electronic merchandise from a Walmart store in Bowling Green and a subsequent high-speed vehicle chase into Toledo.
During his sentencing hearing, the trial court noted he had a history of theft and drug use. He drove his vehicle at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour during the chase, running stop lights and driving on the wrong side of the road.
In his appeal, Wheeler argued the section of the Ohio Revised Code cited by the trial court only applies to fourth or fifth degree felonies and does not presume a prison term for the offenses.
The trial court agreed its reference to a prison term being presumed was incorrect but said its use of the word ‘presumed’ was a clerical error and requested the appeals court remand the matter to the trial court for a retro-active entry.
But the appeals court declined.
“Because the error in this case involves a legal judgment as to whether a prison term is presumed, and because we cannot conclusively determine from the limited record before us whether the trial court sentenced appellant under the mistaken belief that a prison term was presumed, or whether the court simply inadvertently included that passage in the sentencing entry, we hold that appellant’s sentence must be vacated, and the matter must be remanded for a new sentencing hearing,” the court ruled.