{"id":9149,"date":"2011-06-10T03:23:48","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T08:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=9149"},"modified":"2011-06-10T09:06:14","modified_gmt":"2011-06-10T14:06:14","slug":"rape-suspect-competent-to-stand-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2011\/06\/10\/rape-suspect-competent-to-stand-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Rape suspect competent to stand trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

A man charged with rape was found competent to stand trial on the charges during a hearing held Thursday in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court.<\/p>\n

Judge Charles D. Steele used information included in an examination by Court Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Toledo in determining that Jeremy Neeley, 23, was competent to stand trial and assist in his own defense.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jeremy Neeley (right) and his attorney, W. Edward Hatcher, listen during Thursday's competency hearing in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court. In the background is Bailiff\/Probation Officer Frank Bowen. (Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Neeley had entered a not guilty plea to two counts of rape, both felonies of the first degree. Each rape count also carries a specification mandating a maximum sentence of life in prison.<\/p>\n

Neeley is charged with raping a girl who was under the age of 10 sometime between January 1 and March 2 of this year. He is currently being held in jail on a $100,000 cash bond, while Judge Steele on Thursday scheduled a trial date in the case for July 26-27.<\/p>\n

Also Thursday, two Quincy residents changed their pleas to guilty on a charge of possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony offense.<\/p>\n

Shane M. Herstel and Danel King, both 39, were arrested as a result of a traffic stop by a trooper from the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol on February 13.<\/p>\n

After the trooper stopped the pair\u2019s vehicle for an equipment violation, he reportedly smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Further investigation discovered that the men were also in possession of prescription drugs illegally.<\/p>\n

Judge Steele ordered a presentence investigation on both men and set sentencing for 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 20.<\/p>\n

Samantha J. Lacy, 20, of Van Wert, also appeared in court on Thursday and admitted to violating her treatment in lieu of conviction program, as well as violating the conditions of her bond.<\/p>\n

Lacy told Judge Steele she was \u201cmessed up on bath salts\u201d and came to the probation department for help. She also requested that she be sent to the Western Ohio Regional Treatment and Habilitation (WORTH) Center in Lima for treatment.<\/p>\n

Judge Steele ordered her held in jail while a presentence investigation was completed before being sent to the WORTH Center.<\/p>\n

Lacy had originally been charged with theft of drugs.<\/p>\n

Dennis Marksberry, 24, of Van Wert, also admitted he violated his treatment in lieu of conviction program by using marijuana. He was allowed to return to the treatment program, but was also given a stern warning by Judge Steele that any further violation would result in his treatment program being terminated.<\/p>\n

Crystal R. Stauffer, 24, of Decatur, Ind., was granted judicial release from prison and ordered to spend up to six months in the WORTH Center as part of a three-year term of community control.<\/p>\n

Stauffer had originally been arrested on charges of complicity to commit burglary in both Van Wert and Mercer counties in 2010 and was given a two-year prison term in Van Wert County on the charge.<\/p>\n

In granting judicial release, Judge Steele also ordered that Stauffer pay all court costs associated with her case and make restitution to victims in the case in the amount of $1,479.65.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor A man charged with rape was found competent to stand trial on the charges during a hearing held Thursday in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court. Judge Charles D. Steele used information included in an examination by Court Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Toledo in determining that Jeremy Neeley, 23, was competent […]<\/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-9149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 01:41:50","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\/9149","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=9149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}