{"id":192578,"date":"2025-05-07T13:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T18:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=192578"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T18:09:14","slug":"diltz-pleads-guilty-to-amended-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/05\/07\/diltz-pleads-guilty-to-amended-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Diltz pleads guilty to amended charge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Van Wert woman charged in connection with the overdose death of a relative appeared in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April Diltz, 46, of Van Wert, entered a guilty plea to an amended charge of attempted corrupting another with drugs, a third degree felony. She was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter, a first degree felony; corrupting another with drugs, a second degree felony, and possession of a fentanyl related compound, a fourth degree felony. The involuntary manslaughter and possession charges were dismissed in exchange for a guilty plea to the amended charge.<\/p>\n\n\n

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April Diltz wipes away tears as she pleads guilty to a felony drug charge. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The charges were connected to the July 3, 2024 death of her father. The two were in a motel room in Van Wert and were using drugs when the victim overdosed and passed away. Officers obtained a search warrant for the room and seized suspected drugs and paraphernalia. A police report stated that Diltz later admitted the drugs were hers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Martin D. Burchfield ordered a pre-sentence investigation. Diltz will remain free on a surety bond with electronic house arrest until sentencing, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. June 18. She faces up to 36 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In two other separate and unrelated cases, a pair of defendants changed their pleas Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gage Maples, 25, Lima, changed his plea to guilty to failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, a third degree felony. Judge Burchfield ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for 9 a.m. June 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scotty Saylor, 42, Van Wert, changed his plea to guilty to breaking entering, a fifth degree felony. He was immediately sentenced to 90 days in jail and was given credit for 22 days already served. He was ordered to pay $2,500 restitution and court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three people were arraigned on various chares, one on Tuesday and two on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, Joshua Sargent, 43, of Van Wert, entered a not guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter, a first degree felony, and corrupting another with drugs, a second degree felony. A surety bond was set and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. May 28. Last week, Sargent was sentenced to 18 months in prison on an unrelated domestic violence charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Allen, 44, of Van Wert, entered a not guilty plea to two counts of harassment with a bodily substance, both fifth degree felonies. She was released on a surety bond along with electronic house arrest and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday, May 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brandi Runyon, 34, of Van Wert, pleaded not guilty to possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a fifth degree felony. She was released on a surety bond and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other hearings were held Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timothy Coombs, 60, of Van Wert, signed a time waiver in open court and requested additional time to prepare his case. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for 9 a.m. July 2. Coombs is charged with possession of cocaine, a fifth degree felony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sentencing was scheduled to take place for Ryan Houser, 39, of Rockford, on a charge of murder, an unclassified felony. However, at the hearing, Houser requested to withdraw his no contest plea. Judge Burchfield set a further hearing for 10 a.m. Thursday, May 22. See the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor A Van Wert woman charged in connection with the overdose death of a relative appeared in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Wednesday morning. April Diltz, 46, of Van Wert, entered a guilty plea to an amended charge of attempted corrupting another with drugs, a third degree felony. She was originally charged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 15:19:52","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192578"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192581,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192578\/revisions\/192581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}