Monday, July 21st, 2008
Sentences imposed for drug charges
By Margie Wuebker
The last two people arrested in a November drug roundup have been sentenced in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
A local woman, implicated in the same Grand Lake Drug Task Force investigation, violated terms of community control sanctions imposed a month ago and now faces prison time.
• Kyle D. Blake, 22, 820 Hemlock St., Celina, was sentenced to three years CCS after pleading guilty to three counts of trafficking in drugs, all fifth-degree felonies.
Other terms include a six-month operator's license suspension and up to 90 days in the Mercer County Jail upon notice of his probation officer. This is often done in the event of a violation to court-imposed sanctions. He and co-defendant Aaron Chapman also were ordered to pay $360 restitution.
The offenses involving marijuana occurred between March 2 and March 19. In keeping with a negotiated agreement, the state dismissed two counts in exchange for a plea on the remaining three charges.
• Amber N. Yingst, 22, of Sidney, pleaded with Ingraham to give her probation instead of a prison sentence agreed on in a negotiated agreement.
Yingst, who has four children between the ages of 5 months and six years, received 16 months in prison with the understanding the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office would not oppose her on judicial release after completing five months. Ingraham imposed a six-month operator's license suspension, ordered $200 restitution and granted credit for nine days already served.
She pleaded guilty June 4 to an amended count of trafficking in OxyContin, a fourth-degree felony. The original charge was a more serious first-degree felony due to the amount of drugs - five times the bulk rate - involved.
"I never knew she was involved in drugs," Brenda Boggs said of her granddaughter. "She was always a responsible person."
Yingst expressed a desire to obtain her GED and apologized for becoming involved in the drug scene. She denied any previous involvement and said the four young children needed her at home.
Ingraham listened intently and indicated the court was empathetic. However, he chided her for getting involved in the first place without any thoughts of consequences.
• A Celina woman who asked Ingraham for a second chance at her May 28 sentencing is headed to prison after she admitted violating CCS. The violations took place within a month of the court proceeding.
Elaine N. Trigo, 25, 9554 U.S. 127, was sentenced to 10 months in prison on each of two counts of trafficking in drugs, both fifth-degree felonies. Ingraham ordered the time to run consecutively.
Trigo, who was accompanied in the courtroom by family members including a young daughter, originally received CCS including up to two years basic supervision. The judge also ordered her to complete an intensive counseling program and pay $270 in restitution.
The violations cited in court included failing to inform her probation officer of termination from her place of employment as a waitress. She also tested positive for marijuana and the drug benzodiazepine, for which she had no prescription.
Twenty people originally were charged in connection with the undercover investigation. However, one suspect was deported to his Mexican homeland in connection with an unrelated incident in Darke County before being indicted on two trafficking charges here in Mercer County. The court paperwork will be served in the event he returns to the U.S.
