A Greenfield man has been sentenced to four years of community control in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
John Hartman, 53, Greenfield, was sentenced for one count of theft by deception, a fourth-degree felony.
According to court records, Hartman must pay monthly payments of $750 totaling $21,900 beginning on Nov. 1, 2021, to the two victims of the theft. If he violates any of the community control sanctions, he will be sentenced to between six and 18 months in prison as well as a fine of $5,000.
On Sept. 12, 2020, a female victim reported a theft to the Highland County Sheriff’s Office. She told a deputy that her mother owned property on Golden Dubloon Lane in Paint Township and that she was designated as her mother’s power of attorney. The victim said she was approached by Hartman in April of 2019 and Hartman there asked to buy the property, according to court records.
The victim agreed to sell the property for $15,000 and a $5,000 down payment. The victim said she’d received the down payment from Hartman and then Hartman said he’d pay the $10,000 remaining within a couple of months, but Hartman failed to make payments for the rest of the year. The victim continued to make the tax payments for the property, but eventually had the water turned off due to Hartman’s failure to make payments. After the water was shut off, the victim learned that a male tried to get the water on the property turned back on in his name, court records state.
The female victim was contacted by a male and his partner and found that they had purchased the property from Hartman. They said Hartman posted the property for sale on Facebook for $32,000. They also said Hartman led them to believe he was the only owner of the property. They purchased the property from Hartman in May of 2019 by paying him with a $12,000 cashier’s check and a $4,000 cash down payment, according to court records.
They paid Hartman a total of $20,900 over the following year, then found out that Hartman wasn’t the property owner when they tried to have the water turned on in their name. When they confronted Hartman, he said they would need to deal with the female about future payments, court records state.
In other news, Aaron Taylor, 40, Winchester, was sentenced to three years of community control on one count of aggravated possession of methamphetamine.
Taylor must complete an FRS treatment plan and aftercare, and if violates any of the community control sanctions, he will be given a sentence between six and 12 months and a fine of $2,500.
According to court records, on Oct. 11, 2020, the Hillsboro Police Department received a report of a male subject passed out inside of a vehicle at at Holtfield Station. Two officers responded and found a blue 2019 Nissan Sentra parked at a gas pump. The vehicle was still running and a male inside was asleep at the wheel.
When the suspect had trouble standing still and appeared to be impaired, an officer asked Taylor if he could search the vehicle and, according to court records, found a hypodermic needle inside a driver’s side door compartment along with a rubber container on the center console with a white crystal substance inside.
Officers found more hypodermic needles in the vehicle’s trunk, and the white crystal substance found inside of the vehicle was submitted to BCI analysis and was found to contain methamphetamine, court record state.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
