{"id":4084,"date":"2011-03-03T03:11:42","date_gmt":"2011-03-03T08:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=4084"},"modified":"2011-03-03T03:11:42","modified_gmt":"2011-03-03T08:11:42","slug":"substance-abuse-lands-pair-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2011\/03\/03\/substance-abuse-lands-pair-in-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Substance abuse lands pair in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Two people fighting substance abuse received prison sentences during hearings held Wednesday in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Michael Missler (right) and his attorney, Todd Wolfrum, listen as Judge Charles D. Steele sentences Missler to prison. (Photos by Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michael Missler, 21, of Convoy, was given a three-year prison term on a charge of burglary, a second-degree felony, and a 12-month sentence on one count of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony offense. Judge Charles Steele ordered the sentences to be served concurrently \u2013 at the same time \u2013 and also ruled that Missler make restitution in the amount of $4,257 to Barb\u2019s Party Shop in Convoy, as well as another $3,500 to an unidentified victim.\u00a0 He was given 66 days credit for time served while awaiting sentencing.<\/p>\n

Attorney Todd Wolfrum, who represented Missler, noted that his client\u2019s problems were related to his heroin addiction, but Judge Steele wasn\u2019t convinced that the Convoy man was making any headway towards rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

A Van Wert woman with a long history of alcoholism will also be headed to prison after she was sentenced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Barbara Baker, 48, received a two-year prison term on a charge operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a third-degree felony offense. The original charge had also specified that the woman had five or more OVI convictions in the past 20 years, but the specification was dismissed as part of a negotiation with the prosecutor\u2019s office that resulted in her pleading guilty to the felony OVI charge.<\/p>\n

While attorney Kelly Rauch asked Judge Steele to provide substance abuse treatment for Baker, Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Taylor was adamant that she receive prison time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only time this person can be kept \u2026 from driving a car is when she is incarcerated,\u201d Taylor said, adding that Baker could have hit three young children during her most recent drunk driving incident. \u201cThe state is very concerned about the safety of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor added that the only reason his office agreed to a sentence lower than the mandatory five years was because it was believed she would get treatment for her alcohol addiction.<\/p>\n

Judge Steele said he would recommend Baker be placed in the Intensive Prison Program, a substance abuse program similar to the Western Ohio Regional Treatment and Habilitation (WORTH) Center in Lima, while in prison, although it often takes some time to be placed in that program. Baker was also fined $1,550, which is mandatory for a felony drunk driving offense, and given two days credit for time served.<\/p>\n

Also Wednesday, a Van Wert man who had admitted to violating a Civil Protection Order was given three years of community control on the fifth-degree felony offense. Judge Steele handed down the sentence to Jason R. Wilson, no age or address listed, will also have to serve 60 days on electronically monitored house arrest as part his sentence, and also undergo a psychological assessment and complete any programs recommended.<\/p>\n

His attorney, Kelly Rauch, noted that her client is bi-polar and is being treated by Westwood Behavioral Health Center in Van Wert.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Barbara Baker listens as she is sentenced to prison on a felony drunk driving charge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A man who failed to show up for a pretrial conference back in February had his personal surety bond revoked by Judge Steele during a hearing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The judge set a $10,000 cash bond in the case, along with a $5,000 unsecured personal surety bond, ordered a presentence investigation on the original charge non-support of dependents and scheduled sentencing for 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 27.<\/p>\n

Klarissa A. Mendoza, 18, of Van Wert, was determined to have violated her treatment in lieu of conviction program and was ordered held on a $10,000 cash bond. Mendoza also pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of drugs after she was found in possession of heroin on October 17, 2010, while ostensibly on a substance abuse treatment program. She will also be sentenced at 9 a.m. April 27.<\/p>\n

Andrew Hammons, 23, of Van Wert, changed his plea to guilty on a charge of possession of heroin, and was released on a personal surety bond prior to sentencing on April 27. Hammons was caught with heroin on September 19, 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Two people fighting substance abuse received prison sentences during hearings held Wednesday in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court. Michael Missler, 21, of Convoy, was given a three-year prison term on a charge of burglary, a second-degree felony, and a 12-month sentence on one count of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony […]<\/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-4084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 14:50:24","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\/4084","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=4084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4084\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}