{"id":210456,"date":"2026-09-23T20:32:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T01:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=210456"},"modified":"2026-09-23T20:32:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T01:32:40","slug":"van-wert-man-facing-lengthy-prison-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/09\/23\/van-wert-man-facing-lengthy-prison-term\/","title":{"rendered":"Van Wert man facing lengthy prison term"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

A Van Wert man named in a major drug indictment this past summer agreed to a plea deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a recent hearing in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court, Devin Couch, 21, of Van Wert changed his plea to guilty four charges: possession of cocaine, a first degree felony; possession of drugs, a second degree felony; possession of hashish, a second degree felony, and possession of marijuana, a third degree felony.  <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Devin Couch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Judge Martin D. Burchfield ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for 2 p.m. October 20. According to Van Wert County Prosecutor Dillon Staas, IV, Couch could receive a prison sentence of between 12-20 years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Couch was indicted on eight charges in July — trafficking in cocaine, a first degree felony with a major drug offender specification; possession of cocaine, a first degree felony with a major drug offender specification; aggravated trafficking in drugs, a second degree felony; aggravated possession of drugs, a second degree felony; trafficking in hashish, a second degree felony; possession of hashish, a second degree felony; trafficking in marijuana, a third degree felony, and possession of marijuana, a third degree felony. Each of the eight charges carried a one-year firearm specification, along with eight specifications for forfeiture of guns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the charges were tied to a police call on December 21, 2025. The Van Wert Police Department and Van Wert EMS were dispatched the possible overdose situation in the 700 block of N. Washington St. Police and paramedics arrived to find a younger male on the floor, unresponsive. He was treated by EMS and was transported to OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

While he was being treated at the scene, there were several drug items in plain view. The Van Wert Police department applied for a search warrant and confiscated what Police Chief Doug Weigle called at the time \u201can unbelievable amount of THC vape pens and cartridges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other items that were consficated included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • A very large amount of marijuana.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A very large amount of hash oil or butter (Mason Jars)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A significant amount of cocaine.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A large amount of cash, gold, silver and copper bars (estimated worth of ($40,000)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Other pills and drugs that yet to be tested.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A large amount of rifles and ammunition, including a flame thrower.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    At the time, the street value of the drugs alone was estimated to be approximately $250,000.  The drugs were sent to a state lab for testing, which led to the length of time between the seizure and the indictment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor A Van Wert man named in a major drug indictment this past summer agreed to a plea deal. During a recent hearing in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court, Devin Couch, 21, of Van Wert changed his plea to guilty four charges: possession of cocaine, a first degree felony; possession of drugs, […]<\/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-210456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-30 22:21:50","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\/210456","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=210456"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210493,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210456\/revisions\/210493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}