Judge Rocky Coss rendered community control sentences on a Dayton and Dry Ridge, Kentucky men in sentencing hearings last week in the Highland County Court of Common Pleas.

The Dry Ridge man was also designated a Tier I sex offender.

A Greenfield man failed to appear for his sentencing hearing and has a warrant out for his arrest, and a Hillsboro woman had her bond revoked and remained lodged in the Highland County Jail Monday on meth possession charges.

Michael W. Certain, 39, Greenfield, failed to appear Thursday in connection with a failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer charge, a third-degree felony.

Court documents state that he had been on his own recognizance since March 22, and entered a guilty plea to the charge on April 22.

The court’s bill of particulars stated that on Sept. 9, 2020, after fleeing and attempting to elude Greenfield police in a vehicle with fictitious plates, the chase continued westbound on S.R. 138 with Certain’s vehicle traveling in the opposite lane on multiple occasions and narrowly avoiding head-on collisions with other vehicles.

The bill further added that upon approach to Worley Mill Road, the vehicle forced several Amish children walking along S.R. 138 to jump off the roadway and into a field, and that shortly afterward, the vehicle crashed and rolled several times as he attempted a turn from S.R. 138 onto South Fairfield Street.

Ivan McClure, 22, Dry Ridge, Kentucky, was sentenced to five years community control after being convicted of one count of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony.

In a judgment entry imposing community control sanctions, he was ordered to successfully complete both the FRS counseling program and an anger management program, and to have no contact with any female under the age of 18 unless supervised by the child’s parent.

He was given a 90-day sentence in the Highland County Jail, and was designated a Tier I sex offender, meaning he will have to register his address in-person annually for a period of 15 years.

Kelly R. Young, 40, Dayton, received a three-year community control sentence after entering a guilty plea and being convicted of violating a protection order or consent agreement, a fifth-degree felony.

The court’s bill of particulars stated that Young had been convicted of violating a previous protection order from Adams County Common Pleas Court on Aug. 8, 2019.

In the judgment entry imposing community control sanctions, Young was ordered to have no contact with the victim, and that he was to be immediately released from the Highland County Jail.

Sydney M. Yoakem, 23, Hillsboro, had her bond revoked, was remanded back to the Highland County Jail, and had her sentencing hearing rescheduled for Wednesday, May 26.

She pled guilty to a fifth-degree felony charge of aggravated possession of methamphetamine on April 14 in connection with an indictment charging that on April 24, 2020, she “did knowingly obtain, possess, or use methamphetamine.”

Court papers stated that an updated presentence investigation had been ordered, with the Highland County Probation Department adding that she had failed to report to its office since March 29, with the last contact being an email received on April 22.

The probation office also said that Yoakum had failed to provide any proof she was in active drug rehab treatment, and that there was an outstanding warrant for her arrest after she failed to appear in Hillsboro Municipal Court.

Sentencing for Timothy W. Hampton, 48, Greenfield, had also been scheduled for Thursday but the Highland County Probation Department intervened in his case.

Hampton was convicted of the fifth-degree felony of aggravated possession of methamphetamine, and was also facing an additional charge of failure to appear, a felony of the fourth-degree.

He had requested admission into the New Way to Recovery Drug Court, and court documents stated that on May 14 he had been screened and accepted for placement in a residential drug treatment program at The Counseling Center in Portsmouth, and if receptive and ordered by the court, could report on May 24.

HCPD Director of Programming and Clinical Services Tonya Sturgill, who is also the drug court coordinator, informed Coss that Hampton “had verbalized a desire to participate” in the drug court, while at the same time admitting that he had a “significant” criminal and substance abuse history.

She said she had scheduled a bed with both the STAR (Sobriety, Treatment, Accountability and Recovery) program and The Counseling Center, with the TCC bed available on May 24 and STAR on June 2.

Sturgill further recommended that should Coss accept Hampton into the drug court, that he complete the STAR program prior to admission into The Counseling Center to assess his motivation for change and compliance with the program

She noted that if he was unwilling to comply, “prison will always be there as a secondary option.”

Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571.