Judge Rejects 8-Year Deal? Repeat Drug Offender Gets Longer Sentence

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Thank you, Your Honor. Reporting today on State v. Shannon Hinton, file 24-CR-961. We're here today for sentencing. State of Ohio is prepared to go forward. Thank you. [00:00:14] Speaker 2: Ms. Hibbert. [00:00:16] Shannon Hinton: Yes, thank you, Your Honor. We are prepared to proceed with the sentencing in this matter. [00:00:20] Speaker 2: Go ahead. [00:00:21] Shannon Hinton: Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor, Mr. Hinton pled guilty to five different counts of this indictment, some high-level felonies, with the understanding that he is going to be serving a prison sentence. Your Honor, he has admitted his wrongdoing by entering that plea, and he in fact knows what he did was wrong. He is prepared to tell you about his thoughts on the matter and to express that he is remorseful for his conduct and that he needs to make a change. [00:00:59] Speaker 4: I would like to apologize to the person that I caused harm to. I also would like to apologize to the prosecuting team for their work, the detectives in the Lake County Jail. I know the decisions that I made were selfish, and I'd agree, but I've come to my senses, and I want to do better. I want to change. I also want to change for my family, because the path that I've chosen early in my life have done nothing but led me down the dark, dead-end road that I truly regret, and it's taken me 35 years of my life to understand this is not the life that I want. I thought money would fix my life, but really, the true value is my family and my freedom. I've now chosen to push restart and become someone else, someone who's there for my family, and someone who helps this community. I also know that I have to accept my consequences. So whatever they are today, I accept them. So please have mercy for me, for the sake of my family, and for me to have another chance, and finally prove who the man I know I could be in this world. Thank you, Your Honor. [00:02:50] Shannon Hinton: Your Honor, we would ask, with that, that you accept the joint recommendation of the parties, and impose an eight-year prison term to be run concurrent to the prison term that Mr. Hinton is already serving. I would also point out that he does have the support of his family. His mom's here today. He knows he's let her down, and again, we would just ask that you impose the jointly recommended sentence of eight years. [00:03:16] Speaker 2: This stuff's been going on for 15 years, so what you read rings completely hollow to me, because if you meant any of that, you wouldn't have been doing this over here in March of '23. This is because, in November of '09, I went to prison on an F-4, trafficking, did about seven months, got out in March of '10. That same month, you pled guilty to trafficking, you were put on probation right after you got out of prison, and then after violation of probation, you went to prison for about 15 months, or no, only about three months. [00:04:32] Hinton: I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. [00:04:34] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. [00:04:36] Hinton: I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. [00:04:42] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. [00:04:44] Hinton: I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. [00:04:46] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '13. [00:04:47] Hinton: I got out in July of '13. [00:04:47] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. [00:05:05] Hinton: I got out in July of '13. I got out in July of '13. [00:05:07] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '14. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:09] Hinton: I got out in July of '14. [00:05:10] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '14. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:17] Hinton: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:20] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:26] Hinton: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:30] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:33] Hinton: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:35] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:38] Hinton: I got out in July of '15. [00:05:39] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:41] Hinton: I got out in July of '15. [00:05:42] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '15. [00:05:52] Hinton: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:05:54] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:06:01] Hinton: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:06:06] Speaker 2: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:06:15] Hinton: I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. I got out in July of '15. [00:06:28] Speaker 2: I'm not sure what you were doing over here in March of '23. I don't know. You're hard to keep track of because you keep doing the same thing for 15 years. And now you tell me that you realize you were wrong and it's impacting your family. And now your mother's got to be here because your overriding concern, the way you've conducted yourself for 15 years, is to try to make money selling dope. Right? Yes. Am I right or am I wrong? [00:07:17] Speaker 4: Correct, Your Honor. Okay. [00:07:19] Speaker 2: And you got some fairly light penalties in the past. Three times of anywhere from three months up to about seven months before you got popped for about six years in federal prison. And then three months later, you're at it again with the same stuff. And then less than two years later, you're at it over here. When did you discover that there was a way to get dope in that jail? In that cell from the fourth floor? [00:07:59] Speaker 4: It was a hole in the window that has been in the window for quite some time. Okay. [00:08:06] Speaker 2: How did you know that? [00:08:08] Speaker 4: Because it was going around the jail. [00:08:11] Speaker 2: And somehow you learned your way into that cell? How did you do that? [00:08:16] Speaker 4: In different inmates. Different inmates run out of different cells. [00:08:21] Speaker 2: I know, but you ended up moving to that cell, right? With Ruskin? Did you move in there with Ruskin? [00:08:27] Speaker 4: No, it was never my cell. [00:08:29] Speaker 2: Where was your cell? [00:08:30] Speaker 4: I was in the cell, I believe, two doors down. [00:08:35] Speaker 2: Okay. Who was in that cell where the hole was in the building? [00:08:39] Speaker 4: Another kid. [00:08:40] Speaker 2: I believe his name was Josh Brown. Josh Brown, the one who dropped over? Correct. So, when you got this stuff in the jail, who'd you sell it to? [00:08:56] Speaker 4: I pretty much was, we was pretty much using. Okay. Well, who paid for it? Who paid for it? Nobody didn't pay for no drugs. [00:09:07] Speaker 2: Okay. Somehow, what's her name, Lil Ma? Yes, Your Honor. Okay. Got drugs. Somewhere. Gave Archie a ride out here. Right? Who gave Archie a ride out here? I don't know that person. You don't know that? Well, who were you trying to arrange? It was Walt, right? Did he do it? No. Who did it? You were on the phone, trying to get multiple people, somebody who had a car, to get that stuff out here. Who got it out here? I don't know that. I don't know his name. Okay. Well, who arranged it? I arranged it, Your Honor. Okay. So, what did you just call up somebody with no name and have them come out here? [00:09:57] Speaker 4: I arranged it with my girlfriend. My girlfriend. Okay. And so, where did the drugs come from? The drugs came from somebody that she had found. Okay. So, who paid for those? [00:10:10] Speaker 2: She did. Okay. So, who was going to make this pot of gold, pot of gold, pot of gold? I mean, I'm pretty sure we both would have benefited from the... You're pretty sure? I mean, this is your business, right, for the last 15 years, isn't it? Yes, Your Honor. So, you're pretty sure? [00:10:29] Speaker 4: Yes, Your Honor. [00:10:30] Speaker 2: Okay. Are you kind of trying to slight things with me here? No, sir. Okay. So, the idea was to get her paid for what she was putting out, right? For the drugs. And then to make some money off the drugs you were bringing in with the inmates, right? Correct. Okay. This ain't rocket science here. Okay. So, once these drugs came in, what did you do with them? Who was using them. Okay. Who? Besides Brown, who dropped over? All of us who was involved on the indictment. Which is who? [00:11:13] Speaker 4: Um, Ruskin, I believe his name was Dustin, Joshua, myself. [00:11:29] Hinton: Yeah. Yeah, but just that. [00:11:31] Speaker 4: Okay. And then, how much did they pay you? I was never, I was never paid. Why not? [00:11:40] Speaker 2: Because, doesn't nobody have any money. Okay. Well, who, you were talking to your girlfriend about how, and Archie, how this was a pot of gold up there? And what I took from that conversation was, you were going to get this stuff in here and be able to sell it and make a lot of money to all these people who were drug addicts, right? [00:12:04] Speaker 4: Wasn't that the idea? Not over here at the jail. Not over here at the jail. I was planning on taking the drugs with me, Your Honor. Taking them where? Back to the institution I was housed at. Okay. [00:12:16] Hinton: But you didn't do that. [00:12:17] Speaker 2: You just spread it out among your buddies over there? Out of the goodness of your heart, or what? [00:12:23] Speaker 4: I mean, at the time being, we were trying to, we had addictions, so we wanted to get high. Okay. [00:12:31] Speaker 2: Well, before you found the hole in the wall, to get it in, how were you getting drugs? You had an addiction, so you had an active addiction. When was the last time you used? Before March of '23. Before March of '23? [00:12:54] Speaker 4: Right. I was using probably a few days before that, I want to say. Okay. [00:13:04] Speaker 2: Alright, so the pot of gold, you were going to get it in and take it with you back to prison? Correct. But instead of that, you just spread it out among the faithful over there? [00:13:16] Speaker 4: I mean, that wasn't the initial plan. But once the drugs came into my possession, it was, urges the dues and the, it was just boredom. What was the talk about the cash app? Cash apps was used, normally used for trading. Trading what? Traded food items and commissary. Child hall trades, normally. With who? [00:13:54] Speaker 2: Other inmates, right? Correct. So, somehow the cash app was going to be used to pay for the dope, right? [00:14:00] Speaker 4: I mean, eventually, once I left the prison, I'm pretty sure I would have used probably my books. Your what? I would have got money added towards my commissary, I mean, yes, my commissary account. [00:14:25] Speaker 2: Well, I don't believe that. I think you were going to give, make your girlfriend, make sure that she got what she put into it. You were going to pay Archie for coming out of the parking lot and putting it on the end of the rope. You were going to pay Walt or whoever to drive, and then you were going to sell the shit up there and make some money. That's what I think was going on here. You tell me otherwise, but I don't believe you. Because this is what you do. This is what you've done for 15 years. And this talk of you wanting to do something different is nonsense. Because you don't do anything different. [00:15:21] Speaker 4: I'm ready to, Your Honor. [00:15:22] Speaker 2: What? I'm ready to, too. [00:15:25] Hinton: I don't know. [00:15:26] Speaker 2: You're either ready to do something different or you're not ready to do something different. I don't have the slightest idea. I'm ready, Your Honor. But, you know, you're here to pay your debt for this. Whether you change or not in the future. It's beyond anything I can do or not do. It's up to you. It quite honestly doesn't concern me. Because you're going to do whatever you're going to do. I mean, obviously, when you've gone to court the other five or six times, it didn't change one thing about what you do. You just keep doing it. So, change if you want to change. Don't change if you don't want to change. Anything else you want to say? [00:16:34] Speaker 4: Yes, Your Honor. It took me 35 years to get to this point in my life. And now, I realize all the mistakes that I did make growing up in my life. I have had a backed up past record. I have committed multiple crimes, drug offenses after drug offenses. Because I wasn't, I haven't grown yet. [00:17:02] Hinton: I haven't understood. [00:17:04] Speaker 4: But now, when I sit here and I look at my life and the consequences that's upon me, I understand that I've got to face them. But, there comes a times in the man life where you're just ready to change. And I'll come to that, come to those with closures. [00:17:26] Speaker 2: Well, I guess, I guess I could sort of understand why the first three times in prison didn't really bother you that much. Because there were minimal, minimal amount of time. But when you went, when you went for almost six years in federal prison, I had a thought, based on what you just said, that would have been the time that would have woke you up a little bit. Because that six years in prison is a long way away from six, seven months in prison, and two months in prison, and three months in prison, right? [00:18:20] Hinton: Yeah. [00:18:22] Speaker 2: So, you would have thought if somebody who had been doing what you had been doing over and over and over and over again, was going to do something different, that would have been the time to do it. And you sat there for six long years doing nothing. That's what I would think. But, I guess I'm wrong. Anything else, Ms. Hibbard? [00:18:51] Shannon Hinton: Your Honor, I would like to note for the court that I have, I would like to note for the court that, Judge, when you first assigned me to this case, Mr. Hinton didn't really even want to talk to me, or cooperate with things, and he has honestly come a long way, even in that few short months since I've been working with him. He seems genuinely remorseful in that he knows that he absolutely has to do something different going forward. I mean, he really didn't want to talk to me at first, and now we've come this far to him pleading guilty to these five counts, him working with me, going over things, participating. I think it is indicative that he's indicative of his true desire to do something different. And, hopefully, this is a wake-up call for him. He knows he's going to prison for a long time. So, Your Honor, we would just, again, ask that you accept the joint recommendation and impose the eight years. [00:19:56] Hinton: Thank you, Your Honor. [00:19:57] Speaker 1: Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you, Your Honor. State of Ohio would ask you to adopt the joint recommended sentence. Thank you. [00:20:04] Speaker 2: What is his credit on this case? Do you know? [00:20:08] Hinton: I do not. [00:20:13] Speaker 2: Does he get any credit because he's under the prison sentence? [00:20:16] Speaker 1: I don't think so, Your Honor. [00:20:19] Shannon Hinton: I think he does, Your Honor. I think he gets credit for all cases for which he's being held, and he didn't even bond out on this one. [00:20:31] Speaker 1: Okay, he's on an OR bond, Judge. But I think he didn't sign it, so he never really bonded out. You set the bond at OR on 9/10/24. [00:20:45] Speaker 2: Okay. [00:20:46] Shannon Hinton: But he was held in the Lake County Jail as a result of this case number. [00:20:53] Speaker 2: So, the other case that he's in prison on now, I believe expires in about the end of January of '26. So, he got three years, credit for about four months, take it back to January of '23 sometime. So, the sentencing date here was May 31, '23. So, while... [00:21:38] Shannon Hinton: And, Your Honor, I think the sentencing date was May 31st, but I believe he stayed here. I was just reviewing that docket the other day. I think he stayed here until August, late August of '23. I'm not really sure why, though. Perhaps. [00:21:53] Speaker 2: So, while he was in jail in March of '23 on the '21 case, the one I sentenced him on. [00:22:06] Speaker 1: And, Your Honor, he's going to be serving the sentence until July 20th of 2026. [00:22:15] Speaker 2: All right. Well, that's probably incorrect. So, you may want to check that when you get back. [00:22:22] Shannon Hinton: We intend to. We just didn't want to bother the court with it prior to this sentencing. [00:22:26] Speaker 2: Thank you. Because he pled guilty on April 12th of '23. So, a couple weeks over, a couple weeks before that, he's doing that nonsense over there. He was given credit for 126 days on May 31, which brings it back into the last week of January. And, if I gave him three years, it means January of '26. So, somebody's got it wrong. [00:22:53] Shannon Hinton: I think it's the Bureau of Sentence Consultation. [00:22:56] Speaker 2: Okay. Well, they're wrong by about six months, so you may want to check that. All right. I've gone back and looked at the old pre-sentence report from May of '23. I've taken a look at some of the Sheriff Deputy Police reports regarding this case. I have listened to Mr. Hinton, Ms. Hibbard, Mr. Geigrich. I've considered all the applicable factors in '29-29-11, '29-29-12, and '29-29-13. And, I've said it. I'm not going to belabor it, Mr. Hinton, but you have conducted yourself in such a way that you are, in fact, the person sitting here who committed this type of offense for the fifth or sixth time. And, this time, it kind of ratchets up because you're bringing drugs in from the outside into the jail, causing one guy who's a hopeless heroin addict to drop over nearly dead. And, you did this all because you saw a way to make a quick buck while you were sitting over here. And, uh, you thought you had a pretty good method, but it all fell apart rather quick. It wasn't, it wasn't that, wasn't that bright of a plan in the end. So, on, uh, count one, which is a felony two, I'm going to sentence you to a term of six years in prison. On, count three, which is a felony three, 36 months in prison. On, count five, which is a felony two, I'm going to sentence you to, and it's a mandatory sentence, a definite minimum term of six years up to an indefinite maximum term of nine years in prison. On, count six, a felony three, I'm going to sentence you to 36 months in prison. On, count nine, a felony three, I'm going to sentence you to 36 months in prison. Now, counts five and one will be concurrent to one another. So, that's a total of a definite minimum of six and an indefinite maximum of nine. Whether you serve any time beyond that six on that particular sentence is up to the Department of, uh, Rehabilitation and Correction based on your activity when you're in the institution. There's a presumption that you should be, that sentence should terminate at six years, but, uh, you'll, you'll have to fight that out with the institution. So, counts three, six, and nine are going to be, uh, concurrent to one another, but it will be consecutive to the six to nine. And consecutive sentences, and, and also, this sentence will be consecutive to 21-8-96, which by my look has about a year left. Consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public from future crime by you, and to punish you, and they are not disproportionate to the seriousness of the conduct and the danger that you pose, obviously, to the public. At least two of these offenses were committed as part of one or more courses of conduct. And the harm caused by at least two of the offenses was so great or unusual at no single prison term for any of the offenses committed as part of this course of conduct adequately reflects the seriousness of your conduct. And, obviously, your history of criminal conduct demonstrates they are necessary to protect the public from future crime by you. When you get out, then you're going to be on post-release control for at least a year, or at least 18 months, up to three years under the parole authority, with conditions. If you violate the conditions, a parole authority could return you to prison for up to nine months for each violation, up to one half of my sentence. If your violation is a new felony, you could get an additional consecutive prison sentence for the violation, the maximum of which would be the greater of 12 months or the time left under post-release control. And the costs are assessed. Mr. Geigrich, you and Ms. Hibbard can put your heads together on whether you believe that he's entitled to credit for the time he's been here since he was arraigned on the charge. And then I'll make that order accordingly. Is there anything else? Mr. Geigrich? [00:28:27] Speaker 1: Any counts be dismissed, Your Honor? [00:28:29] Hinton: Yes. [00:28:30] Speaker 2: Anything else, Ms. Hibbard? [00:28:32] Hinton: No, thank you, Your Honor. I will adjourn. [00:28:34] Speaker 1: I will adjourn.