Elderly man sent to prison on sex count

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

An 80-year-old man who was still blaming his 13-year-old victim for his problems during a sentencing hearing Wednesday will have some time to rethink things after being sentenced to prison on a sex charge.

Former Convoy resident Richard Foley was given a 16-month prison term by Van Wert County Common Pleas Judge Charles D. Steele on a charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Foley continued a pattern of refusing to take responsibility for his crime on Wednesday, putting most of the blame on the young girl he had sex with during a rambling speech to the court prior to sentencing.

Assistant Prosecutor Eva Yarger put it succinctly, noting: “The defendant’s statement showed a distinct lack of remorse, and blaming of the victim.”

Judge Steele, who wouldn’t accept Foley’s first attempt to plead guilty to the charge because he wouldn’t admit that he was actually guilty, said Wednesday that he didn’t feel the octogenarian was amenable to community control in giving him the prison term. The judge also classified Foley as a Tier 2 sexual offender, meaning that he would have to register with the sheriff’s office in any county he would reside, work or go to school in, for the next 25 years after his release from prison. He will also have a term of post-release control (probation) after he gets out of prison.

Also Wednesday, a woman who was caught not once, but twice, in a mobile meth lab, was given a two-year prison term by Judge Steele.

Tyann Montalvo, 22, of Celina, was sentenced on a charge of illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for manufacturing drugs, a felony of the third degree. Montalvo and Chad Bellis of Portland, Ind., were both found sleeping inside a semi tractor-trailer rig that was parked alongside U.S. 224 outside Van Wert by troopers from the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

After waking the couple, troopers determined that the semi was a mobile meth lab and arrested both Montalvo and Bellis.

Later, while free on bond, Montalvo was found in another mobile meth lab in Mercer County, with charges pending in that case as well.

A local teen with a history of criminal offenses as a juvenile was given an approximately nine-month prison term as an adult on one count each of receiving stolen property and for violating her community control program. Christine A. Miller, 19, was sentenced to six months on the receiving stolen property charge and nine months for violating her community control, but also received credit for time served while awaiting sentencing in the case.

A Van Wert man was also given prison on several drug charges during his sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

Jordan Black, 23, was sentenced to three concurrent 12-month sentences on charges of possession and trafficking in heroin. Black allegedly sold heroin to an undercover agent working for the Van Wert Police Department in December 2010. Judge Steele did give him credit for 31 days already served while awaiting sentencing in the case.

Another Van Wert man, Zachary Miller, 26, was sentenced to three years of community control, including 90 days on electronically monitored house arrest, on two counts of breaking and entering and a single count of theft. All three counts are fifth-degree felony offenses.

Miller must also pay more than $5,000 in restitution for his victims, which include the Van Wert County Fair Board and Van Wert County Foundation, for thefts at the fairgrounds and Hiestand Woods Park.

Natasha Comment, 27, of Van Wert, was also given 90 days of electronically monitored house arrest as part of a three-year term of community control on a charge of trafficking in drugs, a fourth-degree felony offense. Comment also received a six-month driver’s license suspension.

A Delphos man, Phillip Cross, 23, pleaded guilty to violating his probation by using marijuana and was resentenced to three more years of community control by Judge Steele, who added a 60-day jail sentence because of the violation.

Tyler D. Bochard, 20, of Van Wert, entered a not guilty plea to a charge of forgery, a fifth-degree felony offense, during a hearing held Wednesday. Bochard was released on a personal surety bond and a pretrial conference was scheduled for June 8 at 9 a.m.

Johnny Ray Foust, 49, of Delphos, also pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, a felony of the fourth degree, for apparently entering a residence in Delphos in August 2010. Judge Steele set sentencing for 9 a.m. June 29.