3 sentenced in Common Pleas Court

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Three people were sentenced and another person entered a change of plea during hearings held Wednesday morning in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court.

Christopher L. Blue, 33, of Van Wert, was given three years of community control, which includes a 90-day jail sentence, on a charge of possession of heroin, a felony of the fifth degree.

Judge Charles D. Steele gave Blue credit for 67 days already served in jail while awaiting sentencing, but also ordered him to undergo substance abuse and psychological assessments and any recommended treatment and suspended his driver’s license for six months.

Also sentenced Wednesday was Taylor N. Agler, 20, of Van Wert, who was given three years of community control on two counts of trafficking in drugs, both felonies of the fifth degree.

Agler also must serve 30 days in jail, but was given work release and does not have to begin her sentence until this Sunday, January 6. Judge Steele also ordered Agler to undergo a substance abuse assessment and treatment and she must take a parenting class. Her driver’s license was also suspended for six months.

A 2006 Ford Focus allegedly used in the commission of one of the drug trafficking offenses was also ordered forfeited by Judge Steele.

James Sylvia, 46, of Van Wert, was given a year of community control on a charge of assault, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Sylvia must also undergo an anger management assessment and any recommended treatment, as well as a substance abuse assessment and any treatment recommended.

Also on Wednesday, Nicole Raines, 32, of Van Wert, changed her plea from not guilty to guilty to a charge of trafficking in drugs, a fourth-degree felony. A specification was also included that she used a 1997 Dodge Caravan minivan in commission of the crime.

In exchange for her guilty plea, a second drug trafficking charge was dismissed.

Judge Steele ordered a presentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for 9 a.m. Wednesday, February 13.