DUI offender goes to WORTH Center

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

A Paulding man with multiple drunk driving convictions escaped a prison term during sentencing held Wednesday in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court.

Orman Goings II, 26, was given three years of community control – including up to six months in the Western Ohio Regional Treatment and Habilitation (WORTH) Center in Lima, on a charge of operating a vehicle while under the influence, a felony of the fourth degree. Goings must also undergo a substance abuse assessment and recommended treatment, had his license suspended for three years and was given a mandatory fine of $1,350.

He faces 24 months in prison if he doesn’t fulfill the requirements of his community control program.

Also sentenced Wednesday were the following:

Ricky Harter, 55, of Spencerville, was given a year of community control, including 60 days in jail, on a first-degree misdemeanor count of theft. The jail sentence will run concurrently with a jail term being served in Allen County.

Samuel Whisman, 20, of Van Wert, was given three years of community control on a charge of trafficking in drugs, a fifth-degree felony offense. Whisman must also undergo a substance abuse assessment and treatment and had his driver’s license suspended for six months.

Jerad Caldwell, 25, of Van Wert, was given three years of community control, including up to six months in the WORTH Center, on a charge of trafficking in drugs, a fifth-degree felony. He also received a six-month driver’s license suspension.

Also Wednesday, Bobbie Spyres, 19, of Ohio City, changed her plea to guilty to an amended charge of attempted forgery, a first-degree misdemeanor. A presentence investigation was ordered in the case, which was scheduled for sentencing at 9 a.m. Wednesday, September 26.

Klarisa Mendoza, 24, of Van Wert, entered a not guilty plea to a charge of possession of heroin, a felony of the fifth degree, during an arraignment hearing held Wednesday. A $10,000 cash bond was set in the case and she was scheduled for appear for a pretrial conference at 8 a.m. Wednesday, August 22.