Local and state courts stayed busy during Ohio University students’ spring break with several cases.
FAKE IDS
The cases of the last two of seven OU students involved in the fake ID scandal last quarter ended over break.
A 20-year-old student and Sean McCafferty, 19, were found guilty of the charges they were given as a result of an investigation prompted by U.S. Customs officials.
Customs officials intercepted a package addressed to the student at the Port of Cincinnati. The package contained 20 high-quality fake driver’s licenses. The fake IDs contained the names of McCafferty and five other students.
The student was charged with six counts of forgery. He pleaded guilty March 17 to one count of forgery, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The student was sentenced to 180 days in jail and a $600 fine. The jail time will be suspended as long as the student remains a law-abiding citizen for the next two years.
McCafferty was charged with one count of having a fake ID. He pleaded no contest March 14. He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail and a fine of $100.
The jail time will be suspended if he remains a law-abiding citizen for the next year. McCafferty is also on probation for the next year.
The five other students all pleaded no contest and were given the same sentence as McCafferty.
COCAINE DEALERS
Two men arrested in February for selling cocaine were indicted in the Athens County Court of Common Pleas March 14.
Rannie Brown, II, 24, of Westerville, and Kevin Giles, 24, of Columbus, were both indicted on one count of trafficking in cocaine.
Brown and Giles were arrested after they allegedly sold or offered to sell 21 grams of cocaine in the Nelsonville McDonald’s parking lot in the vicinity of a juvenile Feb. 2.
Trafficking in cocaine is a second-degree felony. Both men could spend a maximum of eight years in prison and pay a maximum fine of $15,000 if convicted, according to the Ohio Revised Code.
WALMART ROBBER
The last of the three men involved in robbing a man at gunpoint in the Walmart parking lot took a plea agreement with the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office March 16.
Gabriel Hill, 19, was charged with two counts of aggravated robbery after he, John Wallace, 26, and Marco Delgado, 24, robbed a man at gunpoint in the Walmart parking lot on East State Street, Dec. 6.
Hill pleaded guilty to two counts of theft, a first-degree misdemeanor, as part of the agreement, according to court documents. Hill was sentenced to 180 days in jail and $1,000 fine for each count.
The court will suspend the 294 days in jail and the $2,000 fine if Hill remains a law-abiding citizen for the next two years, if he is given credit for the 66 days he has already spent in jail and undergoes alcohol and drug rehab, according to court documents.
Wallace and Delgado also took plea agreements. Wallace was sentenced to four years in prison. Delgado was sentenced to two years and six months in prison.
MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
OU College of Osteopathic Medicine filed a response March 10 to a complaint filed in the Ohio Court of Claims against them for alleged medical malpractice. The college is asking the court to dismiss the complaint.
Ethel Tuttle, of Plymouth, Ohio, is suing OU for $25,000 in damages to compensate for her injuries and damages allegedly caused by Dr. Barry Zadeh when he treated her for vascular complications, according to court documents.
Zadeh held a formal and/or informal clinical instructor position at OU during the time of the incident, according to court documents.
OU-COM denies all the allegations contained in the complaint. OU-COM claims that Tuttle fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and that any injury or damage caused to Tuttle was a result of her own actions, according to court documents.
The court has yet to issue a response.
ml147009@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCity
Update: The name of a former Ohio University student was removed from this article after charges stemming from a false ID investigation were stricken from the student's record.
